Redemption
by MandyMassacre
Summary: Smecker wants to get them out and get them back to work. He needs someone with a plan. He needs Ringo Carson. She's got the perfect way to get the Saints out of the Hoag and back to business.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: no, contrary to my hopes and dreams, I do not own any of the rights to The Boondock Saints. **

**NOTE: I won't be writing in a thick accent. If you watch the films, they don't say "me" rather than "my" and they also pronounce "you" rather than "ye" (see the courtroom scene) but for clarity and so my dear readers aren't completely sucked out of my story, I'll use it here and there. Just hear the accent in your heads please….I'm sure you've all seen the movie enough times to know how each of the character's accents sound. **

"_The Hoag isn't just any prison."_

"_Wrong. That's just what it is: A prison. Run by men. And men, as we both know, are fallible."_

Eunice Bloom went over these words in her head again and again as she sat across the table from Paul Maximillan fucking Smecker. They had arrived at the monastery that Bloom was to be taken to for security purposes. Smecker looked off into the distance as he lit another cigarette, taking a drag before connecting his line of sight with Eunice. She saw instantly that an idea had come to him and tilted her head at the devious smile that had taken over his features. He was proud of himself for this one. Eunice was surprised at how quickly everything was happening and was still attempting to stop her head from spinning. It had only been a week since the incident with the Old Man and since the boys had been carted off the Hoag maximum security prison, and already, Smecker knew how he wanted to get them out.

"We need a con. One who is more creative than us both put together. Now, Eunice, would you happen to know any con artists who posses a certain creativity for getting out of tight situations involving johnny law?" Smecker asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

"You think she'll help us?" she asked, tilting her head even further.

"Well I can't see why not. She is the woman responsible for my 'death.'" he mused.

"I should have known. No one else would have been able to get away with it."

"She's a smart little girl. Means well." he reasoned. "Her crimes may be petty, but the accuracy with which she executes her plans is so meticulous….I really don't know of anyone else who would have a better chance at getting them out safely and without raising suspicion."

"I don't know if I'd call stealing over five million dollars from a Russian crime syndicate from right under their noses petty, Smecker."

"Compared to what I'm about to proposition her with, stealing from the mob is child's play. I think she'll enjoy the challenge of breaking the boys out of the Hoag. Gives her a chance to prove herself in the big times. Give all the punks that doubt her talent a reason to choke on their words. She'll do it."

"I guess we'll be giving her a call then?" Eunice questioned.

"Indeed. Call Dolly and Duffy and tell them to find her. Ringo is our ace in the hole."

* * *

Two days later, Paul Smecker was in New York and Ringo Carson was face to face with the man she had 'killed' some years earlier. Smecker smiled at her briefly before walking into the loft apartment she occupied. Ringo hadn't understood why Smecker had needed her help again, but figured that it had something to do with the same reasons why he asked her to help him fake his own death several years prior.

"Paul." she said pleasantly.

"My dearest Ringo. How have you been darling?" he inquired.

"I've been decent. Taking some time off, as it were. No need to pull jobs every week anymore. The Russian money never seems to run out." she remarked with a dark grin. She certainly didn't look like the type who could rip off a major mafia family. Short, only about 5'2" with pale skin and blue eyes. She had bleached her hair since Smecker had seen her last and he had to admit to himself that he enjoyed the bright blond. Some pictures had circulated of her after she had 'killed' him and the change was necessary in order to remain untouched by the police.

"Can I interest you in a job?" he asked cautiously.

"What kind?"

"Big time."

"Details, Paul."

"I'm sure you've heard of the Saints?" he questioned.

"Everyone on the fucking east coast has, Paul. Fucking shame that the FBI got to them. Do you know that crime has risen by twenty percent in the past week in South Boston? Fucking twats know they can get away with murder now."

"That's why I'm here."

"You want to get them out of the Hoag?" Ringo guessed, a look pf pure mirth overtaking her face. Smecker nodded slowly and a smile formed on Ringo's lips. She knew what he wanted of her. He wanted her to help.

"I need you to do what you do best…" he told her.

"Shouldn't be too difficult. It may be the Hoag, but it's still just a prison." she mused. "What kind of shape are they in?"

"They're injured. Both boys were shot, couple of times. The Mexican suffered more severe damage. Last I heard, he was still on life support." he informed her.

"You've got someone on the inside?"

"Just an informant. Not high up enough to give me the help I need." Smecker replied.

"I take it they'll be in the prison infirmary for a while, then?" Ringo asked, beginning to see the start of a brilliant plan.

"At least another week. Why?"

"If you can get your hands on some Tetradoxin, I can get them out." she finally decided.

"Blowfish poison?" he asked.

"It comes from the Fugu blowfish's liver and is toxic if you ingest too much. However, if you take the Tetradoxin and sprinkle just a tad on your chest right above the heart, the poison will penetrate through the skin cells. It slows your heart rate down so much so that an EKG can't even pick it up. The monitor will say you're dead. You won't have a pulse. Then, you've got about twenty four hours until you come out of it." she explained.

Smecker looked at Ringo in awe. Here sat this tiny little girl, one who had been hardened by growing up witnessing her father and her uncles conduct business, Russian mafia style. She made no excuses for her upbringing. She let it teach her. She had remained in the family until she turned sixteen. She witnessed her father and mother being murdered courtesy of an underboss that was unhappy with her fathers performance. She was the only surviving member of her immediate family and she didn't take that lightly. The case, worked by none other than Special Agent Smecker, had her right in the middle of a mutiny. Smecker advised her to get out of town, and she did. She changed her last name and moved out of Boston. After living in fear for several years, and secretly smuggling money out of their secret accounts that she'd inherited from her father, she received news that the branch to which her family had be involved with had self destructed and the only living members had fled back to Moscow. It was then, finally, that Ringo was able to focus on her own career. Crime was all she knew, but murder she refused. She spent her time with monetary gains. Cheating casinos, cheating the mafia families in the area, ect. She was a con artist, and a damn good one. Her execution of her master plans was perfect. She'd never been caught.

"How are you going to get in? Smecker asked.

"I figure that forgeries are my specialty. Shouldn't be too hard to get my hands on some paperwork stating that I've been certified by the medical board of Massachusetts as a doctor." she reasoned. "Shouldn't be much harder to flash around a name tag and get access to the infirmary. It's all in the paperwork. Then I figure I 'kill' all three of them with the Tetradoxin. The MacManus' boys won't have a pulse and the Mexican's monitors will say his heart has stopped. No one will question why. They've all been shot…complications with that and all should hide suspicion. Figure we can pay off the coroner to corroborate the story. Pronounce them dead at the prison and then offer to cart the bodies back to the city morgue. Then all of Boston mourns the deaths of the Saints. I'll need a driver though. Maybe one of those detectives that called me. Duffy seems capable."

"I knew you'd come up with something out of a movie." he teased. "Connor will appreciate the Bond style." Smecker silently applauded her quick thinking. As silver screen as the approach seemed, he knew she wouldn't suggest it if she didn't have full confidence that she could pull it off. Ringo only nodded and waited his decision.

"I can do it, Smeck."

"You will. Two days. Can you get the paperwork by then?" he asked. Ringo nodded and Smecker got up from the chair he was sitting in and made his way to the door.

"The Tetradoxin?" she questioned.

"You'll get it tomorrow afternoon. I'll have Dolly drop it by." he promised.

"Have him bring it to my house. I figure the boys will need a place to rest and heal the rest of the way. I'll set up a few things for them when I go back to Boston tomorrow morning. I should be home by three." she informed him. Smecker nodded, remembering the residence she kept back in Boston. He smiled at the irony of the fact that it was nothing short of a mansion that had once belonged to the Russian's that Ringo had once fled from.

* * *

Two days later, as per instructed by Smecker, Ringo found herself walking into the Hoag maximum security prison. She smirked at the ease at which she was able to simply flash her nametag and fake drivers license and get right into the main building. She sat down with the warden and explained that she'd like to volunteer in the infirmary a couple days a week treating the prisoners. The warden, ecstatic that she didn't ask to be paid for her time, immediately allowed her access. He then did a background check that came back clean. (Ringo had been smart enough to use a real doctor with a squeaky clean background and simply forged the rest of the paperwork).

The warden told her that she was welcome to start at four pm, and so Dr. Allison Marx did just that. She followed a guard to the infirmary and once inside scanned the room for the Saints. She knew that he job would be much more difficult it one or more of them had already been taken back to regular cells. Much to her relief and luck, all three were still there, sleeping under the cover in many bandaged. Romeo was still on oxygen, but the life support had been removed. Ringo smiled at the guard and began to check the charts of the patients. She mentally laughed at herself because she was making notes on each chart that probably made absolutely no sense. She was a con artist, not a doctor. The guard, convinced that everything was manageable, sat back in the chair he was previously occupied by the door and re-immersed himself in the television program that was playing on the TV in the corner of the dimly lit room. Ringo decided that now was as good as time as any and pulled out one of the three vials of Tetradoxin she had in her lab coat pocked.

She lifted back the sheet on top of Murphy MacManus's chest first. He stirred, but did not awake. She emptied the vial onto his chest and pulled the sheet back, but not before pretending to check the gauze that covered the bullet wound on his stomach. She followed in suit with Romeo. She looked behind herself several times to make sure the guard was still pacified with her "treatments." Finally, she moved to her final victim, Connor MacManus. She lifted the sheet as she had done previously. But as she grabbed the final vial of Tetradoxin, she saw his eyes flutter and his blue eyes pierced into hers. He looked at her in confusion and distrust and opened his mouth as if he was to speak. Ringo quickly put her finger to her mouth to shush him. She then leaned down, seemingly to get a better look at the bullet wound on his shoulder.

"Trust me." she whispered, before emptying the vial into his chest. Connor stared at her in horror and made to sit up and wipe if off, but she held him down, he eyes praying that he did what she asked. She saw his eyes flutter before closing completely and she knew the blowfish poison had done its job.

Ringo left the prison and waited outside in her car for the call she knew that she would receive in a few hours. Two hours later, the warden called, frantically telling her that there was an emergency and because she was the doctor on call for the weekend, he needed her there right away.

"What's going on?" Ringo asked as she walked through the doors into the room where all three bodies were laid.

"We tried to wake them up for their dinner, but they wouldn't wake. And they've got no pulse!" the warden cried. He was visibly upset that he had allowed the most wanted men in Boston to die on his watch. Ringo looked concerned and checked each pulse, finally agreeing that they were all indeed, dead.

"How could this happen!?" the warden asked, running his hands through his hair. "They were fine this afternoon!"

"Gun shot wounds cause a lot of stress on the body," Ringo explained. "I won't know more until the coroner makes a report. But one thing I do know, we need to move the bodies. Get them to the city morgue. I'll call them and ride down with the bodies. We need to find out what killed these boys before the media gets a hold of this. You'll all be accused of foul play if we don't have an official statement from the coroner."

"Oh, thank you!" The warden and guard cried, obviously wanted no part of being blamed for the deaths.

"It's no problem." Ringo said as she smiled sweetly. Inwardly, she relaxed. Her plan had worked. As soon as Duffy arrived with the coroners van, they could take the boys to her house. On the ride there, she made a call to the local news media. Within a half hour, news vans swarmed outside the Hoag, eager to know what had happened to the Saints and why they were getting calls reporting that they were dead. In no time, rumors would swirl about prison yard brawls, neglect from the medical staff and even suicide. Ringo smiled at Duffy who seemed happy that it was all over. Ringo, once home, burned all of her paperwork and took off the red wig she'd worn to the hospital and threw that into the fire as well. The prison might have taken a photo of Dr. Allison Marx, but they'd never find her. Ringo told herself to call the warden the next day to inform her that she no longer wished to volunteer after what had happened. In a few weeks, the shit would hit the fan and someone would figure something out, but right now, all that mattered was the she had gotten Connor, Murphy and Romeo out of the Hoag, no worse for the wear.

"Good job, Ringo." Smecker told her. "Couldn't have faked a death better myself." Ringo laughed and glanced into the room that she had made up for the boys to stay in. She had stolen the oxygen tank from the infirmary for Romeo. She cleaned the boy's wounds and re-dressed each wound before pacing nervously around the house, awaiting the moment when they would awake.


	2. Chapter 2

Smecker could tell when someone was anxious. He was a cop, for fuck's sake. It was his job to know shit like that. By the looks of it, Ringo had never been more nervous in her entire life. Most people would have been nervous about getting them out, but not Ringo. The thing that scared her most was the use of the Tetradoxin. What if she'd used too much? What if Romeo wasn't able to wake up from the poison because of his already fragile state? What happened when the boys woke up and started asking questions? What if she got star struck and couldn't form words?

"Jesus, Smeck. Quit fucking staring at me!" Ringo yelled, lighting a cigarette in haste. She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes to escape his knowing stare.

"I'm trying to figure out why the fuck you're so on edge. They're fine. The hard part is done. Now we just need to wait for them to wake up and then we can start making the arrangements to get them out of Boston for a while. "

"We need to give the media a couple of days." Ringo told him. "The more people think that the Saints are actually dead, the easier it will be to get them out."

"But we can't wait too long. Someone is going to figure out that there are no bodies."

"I paid off the coroner. He's going to file an official report and then claim that someone stole the bodies. The only thing I'm worried about is when the detectives come looking for Dr. Marx and realize that she doesn't fucking exist. And you know that those boys are in no shape to travel out of state. I fucking gave their bodies another round of fucking shock when I used the Tetradoxin. They'll need at least a week here." Ringo huffed. In the time she had explained this all to Smecker, her cigarette had went out. "Fucking fire safety cigarettes!" she complained.

"Calm down, Ringo. Everything will work out. I've got faith in you."

"Yeah, I know. I just wish THEY'D FUCKING WAKE UP!" she yelled into the room.

"It's funny because they can't hear you." Smecker teased. Ringo rolled her eyes at him and lit another cigarette.

* * *

Murphy McManus woke up instantly. His heart was beating so fast that he swore everyone in fucking Boston could hear it. He sat straight up, trying to catch his breath., He felt like he'd been under water for too long. Suddenly, his entire body cramped up. He cried out loudly from the pain.

"Here. Take this." a voice said. Murphy looked up to see Smecker standing over him with a couple white pills and a glass of water. Murphy stared in confusion, but soon realized that he was simply dead. But this didn't feel much like Heaven.

"Murphy, take the pills. I promise you'll feel better." Smecker said. "That is, unless you like full body cramps." Murphy did as he was told and swallowed the pills with the help of the cool water. He looked around, noticing Connor laid on the bed next to him, and Romeo in a bed across the room.

"What the fuck!" he yelled.

"Calm down, Murphy."

"I can't fucking calm down! Yer dead! Am I dead? Is Connor fucking dead?! And Rome too! Lords fucking name!"

"Murphy, you're not dead. I promise" Smecker told him calmly. "Now if you'd politely give me a moment to speak, I'll gladly explain what's going on." Murphy nodded slowly and Smecker began.

"A few years ago, I realized that what you boys do needs to be taken to the next level. I knew that even though you'd fled back to Ireland with your Dad, that something would somehow bring you back. I honestly figured that it would be sooner than eight fucking years, but oh well. Regardless, I faked my own death with the help of the same person that helped you fake yours. And I've waiting until the time when you'd need me again. Judging by the fact that you got yourselves locked up, I'd say that time is now."

"Why the fuck did you fake your own death?" Murphy asked, still concerned at his rapidly beating heart.

"Because I knew that if I was going to get you the connections you needed and give you the help that you needed, I needed to disappear. The easiest way to do so…well, is to die. So I faked being killed by darling little Ringo. You'll meet her later, don't worry. And off I went. I instructed Eunice to keep an eye on you while I waited until I could contact you again. But before I could, you went and got yourselves caught." Smecker finished.

"Wait, you got us out?" Murphy asked, looking around the dim room wildly.

"Indeed. You're at the residence of Miss Ringo Carson: con artist extraordinaire."

"Why is my heart beating so fucking fast?" Murphy asked, clutching at it.

"That's my fault, I'm afraid." Ringo explained from the doorway. "You see in order to pass off that your hearts had stopped and that you were indeed dead, I had to use a form of blowfish poison called Tetradoxin. It made it appear that you had no pulse. That's how I got you out of the Hoag." Ringo smiled at him in apology. "And your muscles feel like that because your breathing slowed significantly. Your muscles didn't get enough oxygen for the past twenty four hours making then tense up. The medicine that Smecker gave you should help shortly. Again, I'm sorry, but it was the only way."

"This is the one who managed to get us out of the Hoag?" Murphy asked Smecker. When he nodded, Murphy did the same and managed a small smile in her direction. "Thanks for that, ma'am." he offered. He looked over just as Romeo woke up, moaning in the same pain that Murphy had experienced. Smecker went to offer him the same medication for the cramping, and without questions, Romeo went back to sleep. Murphy smiled but then looked towards his brother in worry. "Why hasn't Connor been up yet?" he asked.

"He was last. He should be coming around any second now." Ringo offered. Just as she finished speaking, Connor's eyes flew open and moments later he sat up and glanced around the room wildly. His hands flew to his chest as he, like Murphy, felt it beat strongly.

"Jesus fucking Christ" he shouted, when the pain hit. That was followed by the mumbled reply of 'Lord's fucking name' from Murphy as Ringo rushed over with the same medicine previously administered to Murphy and Romeo.

"Better give you a double dose. You look pretty angry." she mused. He glared at her and looked at Murphy in question.

"Que la baise, mon frère. Qui la baise, elle est et pourquoi est mon cœur battait si vite. Sommes-nous morts?"

"Calmez-vous, Connor. Elle est la seule qui nous fait sortir de prison. Nous pouvons lui faire confiance. Oh, et smecker est vivant." Murphy replied. Connor twisted his dead quickly and looked as if he might faint when he saw Smecker's amused smile from the doorway.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOIN' ON 'ERE!" Connor shouted. Ringo rolled her eyes and quickly made her way out of the room.

"I can't handle this Paul. You explain to them, and then come get me. They don't trust me, nor do I expect them to, but I'm not going to try to calm the lunatic down." she fumed. Smecker nodded and let her pass him.

"Boys, calm down. Connor, as I've already explained to your dear brother, I faked my own death some years ago just in case a situation like this ever arose. The woman that you saw is my accomplice, Ringo Carson. She's the brilliant lady that swiftly got you both out of the Hoag. She used a blowfish poison that slowed your pulse and breathing to untraceable levels." he explained excitedly.

"So basically, everyone thinks we've died?" Connor asked, trying to steady his breathing.

"Exactly. Now, she's been gracious enough to open her home to you boys while you recover. After that, we're taking you somewhere safe and getting you back to work!" Smecker clapped his hands together and left the room. Connor's eyes were still wide at the ease in which Smecker explained all of this. It all seemed so easy yet so far fetched.

Murphy seemed quite alright with this explanation and nodded his head at Connor to let him know it was legitimate. Connor, however, had a harder time wrapping his head around the events that had lead to this point. Da, the Old Man, the ambush, the arrest, the prison infirmary, seeing Ringo as she administered the poison…

"How's Rome?" Connor questioned, swinging his legs around to sit on the side of the bed. The pain medication was doing its job and his muscles seemed to feel better with every deep breath he took. He grabbed a t-shirt that was laid on the end of the bed. Murphy did the same.

"He's fine. Woke up a bit before you did. Smecker gave him the pills and he went right back ta sleep." Murphy explained. Connor nodded slightly before slowly getting out of bed. Murphy followed in suit, groaning at his lack of strength.

"I could use a fuckin' cig." Connor said. Murphy nodded and grabbed the pack that had been lying on the table by their beds. He smirked at Connor before walking slowly out behind his brother. They made their way into the main hall, staring up at the intricate architecture of the home they found themselves in. The walls were adorned with art that probably cost a fortune and the furniture looked like something straight from Paris. Connor shook his head and groaned. "This is certainly inconspicuous. Great fucking hideout."

"That won't matter now will it?" a voice questioned from behind them. They both turned quickly, relaxing when they saw it was only Ringo. "You're both dead. No one is going to come looking for you. And may I have my cigarettes back? After you bum one, of course." Murphy smiled at her and tore into the opened pack, taking one for his brother as well. Ringo tossed him a lighter in exchange for the pack and turned to leave. "Don't worry about going outside. You can smoke inside."

Murphy turned to look at his brother who followed Ringo's retreating form with uncertain eyes. "Come on, Conn. Lighten up. She did get us out."

"Murph, shut up. We don't knew a damn thing about 'er." he told his brother.

"Aye, but we know Smecker trusts 'er. And if he does, then I fucking do too. You need to be more grateful, my dear brother" Murphy scolded. Connor just sighed and lit his cigarette. Murphy didn't understand. Connor was the protector. The one who made the plans and saw that they were carried through with. He didn't like the fact that a plan had been made and carried out without his permission- especially by a woman that he'd never even met before. She may have Smecker's respect, but he would see to it that she earned his.

Murphy rolled his eyes at his brother and lit his cigarette, taking a moment to appreciate the home he was in. He knew Connor was angry that he hadn't been able to orchestrate their escape plan themselves, but Murphy thanked God for that. Lord knows it would have somehow involved fucking rope and Romeo was in no shape to use that.

"You know, Conn, you should ask Ringo about how she faked our deaths. It's pretty James Bond. You'd love it." He tried, offering a smile.

"Oh yeah? Did she use any rope?" Connor asked, hopefully. Murphy shook his head no and Connor scoffed. "I don't want ta hear about it then."

"Fucking asshole." Murphy muttered as he left the room. He wandered a bit before finding the kitchen where Ringo and Smecker were seated, smoking and talking softly.

"Murphy!" Smecker cried happily. "Come join us. Where's your brother?" Murphy sat down at the large cherry wood table with them and accepted the cigarette that Ringo offered him. He lit it and inhaled before replying.

"Fuck if I care. He's just jealous that Ringo executed a jail bust without using rope and that it wasn't his idea." Murphy laughed. Ringo rolled her eyes and remembered what Smecker had said about Connor's taste for thematic schemes. She went to the fridge and retrieved a beer for Murphy before returning to her seat and taking a drink of her own.

"I didn't have time to consult him. It was a now or never type of situation." Ringo offered.

"Don't worry about it. He's sort of the plan man of our little organization" Murphy told her, smiling. "Well, he fancies himself to be anyhow." Smecker shook his head and smiled.

"Murphy, would you mind if I checked your bandages?" Ringo asked, "It's been a few hours since they've been changed." Murphy nodded and followed Ringo back into the room where he'd awoken. He laid on his bed to give her better access.

"I'm sorry about my brother. He's just jealous of ya." Murphy tired, seeing a small smile. "he'll come around soon. And if not, I'll just beat the shit outta 'him for ya." Ringo smiled and laughed a bit. "You know, that plan of yours was fucking brilliant. Blowfish poison? Who the fuck even knows about that shit?"

"Well, like I said. It was now or never. The brain seems to recall what may or may not be useless knowledge at times like that."

Ringo smiled and continued her work. She cleaned each of Murphy's gunshot wounds carefully before redressing each one. When she was finished she went to check on Romeo. His heart rate was back to normal and his breathing was strong. She disconnected the oxygen and checked his wounds. He stirred, but did not wake and Ringo smiled before leaving him be. As she was finishing re-gauzing his last gunshot wound, Connor walked into the room. She turned to look at him momentarily before returning her attention back to Romeo. He sat on his assigned bed and shared a look with Murphy.

"If you'll remove your shirt please, I need to change your bandages." Ringo asked him softly, so she didn't wake up Romeo. Connor looked at Murphy who shot him a 'just fuckin' do what she says' glare. Connor tried to take it off, but realized that getting it off was a lot harder than getting it on. The pain medication for his shoulder must have worn off. Hearing his moan of pain, Ringo grabbed the medication out of a drawer in the corner and tossed the bottle to him.

"Take two." she instructed. He did as he was told and tried once more to remove the shirt. He sighed in frustration as he failed again. Ringo took pity on him and walked over. "Hold your arms up as high as you can bare." He nodded and held them out, grimacing at the pain. Ringo grabbed the bottom and as gently as she possibly could, slid the t-shirt off his back, over his head and finally over his shoulder and outstretched arm. She could tell that he wasn't used to someone being so gentle with his wounds. She'd noticed that Murphy has a cauterized bullet wound on his arm that looked like it'd been done with an iron and she guessed that Connor had a few as well. He grinned slightly up at her, and she offered a small smile back and got to work taking the bandages off his wounds. She cleaned each one, surprised at how much more reserved he was in contrast to Murphy when the antiseptic hit each one. Slowly but surely, and without his knowledge, Ringo was learning things about Connor McManus. She was learning things about Murphy as well, but he was much more trusting of her than Connor had proven to be. As she finished up, she applauded herself on a job well done. She certainly wouldn't hear it from him.

"Thanks, Ringo" Connor mumbled.

"You're welcome, Connor." she replied with a smile. Murphy winked at her from the next bed as she walked out. Progress, albeit slight, was still progress.

* * *

The next morning, Romeo had awoken fully. After excusing herself to smoke while Smecker and Murphy explained the whole situation to him, Ringo entered the kitchen to find Connor already sitting there, drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette and reading the paper. She poured herself a cup and sat down apprehensively across the table from him. He peeked over the paper and offered her a small smile and a wink. She smiled back, lighting up a cigarette.

"Better mood, I see?" she asked.

"Indeed. I felt like hell yesterday."

"My fault." she admitted. Connor waved the admission off and went back to reading the paper.

"It's gotten out to the media. Everyone thinks we're all dead." he finally stated, laying down the paper for her to see.

The headline read, '**SAINTS FOUND DEAD IN HOAG. FOUL PLAY? SUICIDE?'**

"Didn't take very long. I made the call last night after I'd 'taken the bodies to the morgue.'" she informed Connor. He nodded and smiled at her.

"It was a good plan." he finally agreed.

"It was based on something I'd seen on television, to be honest." she admitted. At this, Connor's eyes lit up.

"CSI: Miami?" he questioned, hopefully.

"The Santeria episode on Halloween a few years ago. Always wanted to try it." she laughed.

"You're good. We should plan together. Know what would 'ave made it even better-" he began.

"ROPE?!" Murphy yelled from the door way. He all but collapsed in laughter when Connor glared at him and Ringo tried to stifle a giggle. He ruffled Connor's hair before joining them at the table. "Miss Carson," he said, while kissing her cheek. "I don't know what those pills were, but I feel great."

"Just oxycodone, Murphy. Vicodin." she told him. He shrugged and proved that he could lift his arm above his head. "Not so fast!" she warned, "You'll rip your stitches. Did you change the bandage on your thigh?"

"Nah, I was waiting for ye to do it, Ringo." Murphy cooed. Connor glared at him and rolled his eyes.

"One girl comes about and you act like you never been fucking shot before. You twat." he spat. Murphy stuck out his tongue and looked at Ringo.

"Come on, Murphy. I'll check it for you." she agreed. Connor rolled his eyes again. "You know, Connor, if you don't stop fucking rolling those goddamn eyes at me, I'm going to fucking rip them out of your head!" she yelled. Connor's eyes widened and went back to reading the paper while mumbling something about how he'd like to see her try. Murphy started to laugh softly before Ringo grabbed his wrist and rushed him out of the kitchen. Back in the bedroom the men shared, she helped Murphy remove the black sweatpants that she'd bought for each one, leaving him in his boxers. She instructed that he lay down while she checked his leg.

"He's a jerk, Ringo. Don't let him get to ya. I'm only 'aving a bit of fun." Murphy blurted after a few moments of awkward silence. Ringo looked up at him for a moment studying his face. Why was it that one brother was able to trust her and get along with her while the other could barely stand to accept her help.

"I know, Murphy. Don't worry about it. He knows that he would still be inside the Hoag if it wasn't for me. So he can suck it." she said quickly. At this Murphy laughed and waited for her to finish.


	3. Chapter 3

****Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'm glad you're enjoying it. :) oh, and for all the sean patrick flanery fans out there, i hope you enjoy the jiu-jitsu scene. :)**

It was eerily quiet at 1289 Griffon Avenue. Too quiet. Ringo didn't enjoy the silence of the moment. This is why it was understood that coming to this home wasn't easy. New York was fitted with bright lights and sounds every second of every fucking day and that's just how the lady of the house fancied it. Quiet reminded her of the moment right before something spectacularly horrible happened. Like the death of her family. In the spirit of this dreadful silence, Ringo Carson began to regret the aid that had been required of her by Paul Smecker. The silence gives one time to think and Ringo was thinking long and hard about what she had just pulled off. The details seemed a tad bit blurry because when you're in the moment, you forget things. Like how you can't identify the guy who mugged you on the street thirty minutes after the attack, or how Ringo couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that she had just successfully broken three men, one that was on oxygen and recently clinging to life, out of the Hoag maximum security prison. That shit was for James Bond or a fucking secret agent; not for a little girl who pulled in cash by robbing people blind. And yet, Ringo smiled to herself in the silence. Her dad would be proud. But alas, the job was over because the boys were out. Her part in all of this cosmic murdering was over and she could leave this silent house and return to the noise and distraction of the city. All that was left was a week of recovery and the boys would be with Smecker, and out of her way. Not that Ringo didn't enjoy being a part of something again, because she did. The Vegas plots had been completed with the help of a top notch team that heeded to Ring's every word and the feeling was empowering. This girl knew what to do, knew how to con. The fact that Smecker had trusted her with something this important to him (besides his own faked death) was monumental for Ringo, but she didn't dare dwell on it.

"So, I figure we give them five more days and then figure out a way to get them to New York for a bit while Eunice and I can make the arrangements to get them overseas." Smecker's voice cut through the silence that had occupied the terrace that Ringo stood on. Reluctantly, she turned to look at him and a expression that said 'please, no' came upon her face.

"Smecker, I did my part. I'm washing my hands of this. You know what I do; I'm a money girl. I do it for the gold. Fuck the glory and I'm pretty sure God gave up on me a long time ago."

"God, Gold and Glory. Welcome to history class circa eight grade." Smecker taunted.

"I'm serious, Paul. Look, these cats probably hate me. I mean come on, I steal large amounts of money for my own personal benefit. I don't do it for charity, I don't do it because I'm in need. I do it for the thrill of the game. It's all sport to me. These guys are doing all of this because it's something they feel called by God to do. They kill people like me for doing the things that people like me do. Fuck if I'm going to walk into a situation where I don't belong. I'm pretty sure that if you check with Connor, he'd share my sentiments exactly."

"Connor has you quite frazzled, I see." Smecker began. "Look, the guy's just lost his dad and almost lost a friend. He's been brought up to not trust anyone without fair evidence that he should in fact do so. He doesn't dislike you because you're a no good thief, Ringo. He dislikes you because he knows you're more creative than he is and you were able to do something that he couldn't even come up with. His pride is hurt. He couldn't save Greenly. He couldn't save Rocco. He couldn't save his dad."

"Don't do this Paul. I'm not going along with this because the guy has taken a hit to his ego and he's experienced a loss. I've been through the same shit and I risked my fucking life for that cat. He can get over himself. But that's not the point. I can't do this. If they hadn't figured out how I make my money already, I'm sure you probably just told them. They don't need, nor want my help. If you need money or a heist, I'm your gal. However, if you need people shot in the fucking head, I'm out." Ringo explained. She was becoming sick of explaining herself to Smecker. He knew her story. He knew her reluctance to get back into that world.

"Ringo. I know you can use a gun better than anyone in this house."

"That's because I had a hit on me courtesy of the Russian mafia, Smeck. I had no choice but to protect myself because God knows that no one else was going to do it for me. I already told you. These guys are on another level. I don't have the backing of the church. I'm certainly not a CEO worth of public trust. I'm just a thief with a knack for faking deaths." Ringo laughed bitterly to herself.

"You're scared of them Miss Carson!" Smecker guessed. "You're afraid that they won't approve of the lifestyle that you were forced to live when your parents were murdered. You're afraid they won't understand that you had to survive and you found a clever way to do it. Listen to me, Ringo. Casinos fix games so that patrons lose every fuckin' time. The mafia steals money from God-knows-where and those bastards killed your mom and dad. Sounds to me like you're just giving them what they deserve."

"Don't glamorize what I do Smecker. It's a crime. I know it. I'm not ridding the world of evil one dollar at a time. I'm stealing money because it's the only thing I'm good at, other than driving fast and coming up with intricate plans of escape, apparently. I was born a criminal. I'm a destroyer."

"As were they. I told you about their father."

"You're not going to convince them. Look, I've done enough. I don't expect anything but another notch in my resume from this job. That's what it is to me. It was a job. I did the job and my contract is up. I can't get involved in this, Paul. You know my demons are all too real. My desire for bloodlust is so intense that if I unleash it, I'll never be able to stop. That's why I steal. It's sneaky and I get the same high that I would if I killed every one of the fuckers that ever made me fear for my life."

"You're so good with words, Ringo. I need you involved in this. The boys need you involved. Romeo is staying put. He's out for a while and--"

"Not a chance."

"Ringo. Listen. Just for a while. You're an expert at scheming and hiding things that need to not be found. You have a need for vengeance that you keep under all your money and jobs. Let it out. Help them make the world a little better. You know it would be the hardest thing you've ever done, but you also know that you can fucking do it! You live for the next big job and what could be bigger than aiding the Saints."

"Not being their next victim." Ringo retorted.

"Ringo, we couldn't hurt you for the world." Murphy yelled at her from the doorway. Ringo turned around with a deep sigh and the look of hurt on Murphy's face was displayed in the dim light from the moon. His blue eyes were narrowed at her and his jaw was set in determination. Ringo shook her head and fished the box of Marlboro Lights out of her pocket and furiously lit one.

"Murph-" she began.

"No, you listen to me, Ringo. You've got your reasons for the things that you do, and I'll admit, there's a gray area 'ere that we've never quite come into contact with, but we're not hypocrites. Smecker told us your story and what you went through. It makes sense, even to Connor and even if he won't admit it 'til his death bed. We kill people who kill. You steal from people who steal. We're amateurs and you're a fuckin' professional. We could really use you. Plus, we're indebted to you for the rest of our lives for what you did for us. You don't fit the criteria for our next victim, love. So don't try that excuse." he finished.

"Not quiet as poetic as Ringo's speech, but I assume it got the point across." Smecker mumbled. Ringo shot him a glare and Murphy sighed, still glaring at Ringo.

"This is a fucking ambush!" Ringo roared angrily. "Look, you know why you do what you do. I don't. I'm not a good person, Murphy."

"Ah, fuck this!" Murphy roared right back before turning and stalking back into the house. Ringo simply shrugged and continued to fill her lungs with the toxic smoke. Smecker gave her a knowing glace before following in Murphy's footsteps back into the home muttering something about her being a 'pussy.' Ringo cursed him under her breath and took another drag.

"They're right, you know." A voice from behind her said softly. Ringo bristled at the sound of a voice that she wasn't familiar with. Turning, it was only Romeo, hobbling out with the help of a crutch. "I'm passing the torch to you, chica. You've gotta be the manager of those two leprechaun dicks now. I'm in no shape to be saving their sorry asses every five seconds." Ringo laughed quietly and smiled at the man that she had previously had no interaction with.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Raza?"

"I've been better, but hell, I've probably been worse. Thanks by the way, for getting us out. I don't know how long I would have lasted in that shithole."

"Don't worry about it. Favor for a friend, favor to society, fun for me."

"You've got a lot of potential if you stick with the boys." Romeo decided. "You might be a better sidekick than me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I hate that I've gotta sit this one out, but they need someone else."

"Apparently their sidekicks don't last very long." Ringo mused.

"That may be so, but don't go thinking it's because they don't protect you with their lives. They will. Look, Murphy likes you a lot. He admires your strength and trusts you because Smecker does. Connor will come around when he's ready. But they're both broken. They watched their dad died. They're in no fucking shape to be taking on those motherfuckers out there all by themselves. Please, Ringo. I know you have no reason to do anything more for me than you already have, but you gotta understand. These boys need help. They need your intelligent way of moving through the system without getting caught. They need someone that will make sure they have a plan…one that doesn't get them killed. You're the one for the job."

* * *

Ringo considered all that Romeo had said to her earlier on the terrace as she sat in her room, trying to decide what to do. Conflicted was an understatement and Ringo felt as if there was no correct answer. If she said no and stuck to her own agenda, she'd feel guilty as fuck for the rest of her life if one of Connor's idiot plans went awry and they got locked up again, or worse: killed. If she went with them, she could end up dead or locked up or even worse, end up releasing the ten years of vengeance that resided in her soul. It was a lose-lose situation as far as Ringo Carson was concerned. Finally, after much internal dialogue that made her feel as if she was gaining another personality -as if she needed that disorder as well- Ringo gave in to her bloodlust.

"Here's the deal. I'll go. But only because I have absolutely no confidence in your ability to remain uncaught and I did too much fucking work to have to get you out of prison again!" Ringo called out as she walked slowly into the kitchen where the boys and Smecker were seated. Smecker gave her a small smile, Murphy gave a larger one and Connor simply raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think I'm capable, eh?" he asked. Murphy smacked the back of his head to contain any further speaking.

"What my dear brother means is that we're delighted to have your assistance on our future endeavors." Murphy explained quickly.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Murph. That's not what I meant at a-" Connor began, only to stop when a fist collided with his cheek. Connor heatedly raised from his chair and advanced on Murphy, dragging him to the wood floor in rage. Ringo, not caring about their sibling rivalry, nor wanting to clean blood off of her wood flooring, intervened by delivering a swift kick to the un-injured side of Connor's ribcage, causing him to let go of Murphy and fall only his back, yelping in pain. Murphy smirked and quickly got up, nodding a thanks to Ringo before mumbling something about not needing a girls help. Connor's glare could have melted off Ringo's face if it was possible. Ringo simply smirked and stuck out her hand to help him up. He grabbed it roughly and pulled her down to the floor before jumping up and stalking off, cursing her loudly. Ringo landed on her hands and knees and immediately got up as well, all but running after the lighter haired twin. Smecker tried to protest, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Ringo had already decided that it was time to teach Connor McManus a lesson. She found him outside on the lawn smoking a cigarette, shaking from anger. She growled before running at him. She swiftly maneuvered herself in front of him before using her leg to push his knees out from under him. She sat with her back to the side of his chest and used her right arm to reach around the back of his neck to grab onto his shirt. Then, pinned his right arm under hers before grabbing the back of his right arm, rendering him unable to get out of her hold. Ringo spread her legs as far as she could and tucked her head into the crook of Connors shoulder. Connor struggled for five minutes before realizing she had him in some sort of hold that he couldn't escape from until she decided to let him.

"Now that I have you alone, Connor. Let's get something fucking straight. You may know how to shoot a fucking gun, but I can jiu-jitsu your ass all night long. Now, this lovely little pose you find yourself in is called the scarf hold. There are many ways to get out of it, but unless you know anything about jiu-jitsu, then I'm assuming you're shit out of luck. You got that?" Ringo whispered into his ear menacingly.

"Get the fuck off me!" Connor screamed, but Ringo only laughed and held on tighter.

"Listen here, Connor. I don't care if you like me. I don't care if you think I'm the most worthless piece of shit you've ever had to fucking lay eyes on. But I got you out of that damn prison and I could put you right back. So don't fuck with me, dickface. We're going to be working together, so play nice. I don't have a problem with you, but if you ever, and I mean EVER attempt to injure me with that gay ass little move ever again, I'll fucking put you right back in the hospital wishing you'd have been mauled by a fucking tiger because it would feel ten times better than what I did to you using my fucking hands." At this, she released him from the scarf hold, but remained on top of him, straddling his hips. Sitting up, their eyes met and Connor nodded, letting her know he got the point. Ringo got off of him and held out a hand. He glared at it suspiciously before taking it and allowing her to help him up.

"Sorry." he mumbled while limping to the house. Just then, Ringo remembered the stitches that Connor possessed and cursed to herself when she realized that her scarf hold had probably ripped the ones on his shoulder wide open. Her fears were confirmed when she noticed the blood on his white t-shirt.

"Connor!"

"What?"

"Go lay down. I think I ripped open your stitches. I'll need to take a look." Ringo admitted while catching up to him in the hallway. He glared angrily and turned his head to see the blood coming from the shoulder wound. Ringo simply pushed him towards the bedroom and pointed to the bed. Connor begrudgingly sat on the side and removed his bloody t-shirt. Ringo washed her hands and put on gloves before taking the bandage off. She smiled with relief upon noticing that the stitches were still intact for the most part and only two had ripped at the top. After contemplating what to do, antiseptic was applied and a new bandage stuck on.

"You're just gonna leave 'em like that?" Connor asked quietly. Ringo searched for sarcasm in his voice, but replied when she realized that he was asking a legitimate question.

"Yeah, only the top two ripped, so you'll be fine. It's almost healed anyways. It should stop bleeding momentarily." was the explanation that he was given. "Look, I shouldn't have done that with you being hurt and all. I'm sorry for ripping the stitches, I know it must have hurt." It took all the strength in her body to apologize for losing her temper, but Ringo had taken the high road.

"Nah, my mum woulda killed me if she'da seen what I did to you. It was a cheap shot. I deserved what came ta me." Connor admitted, smiling up at her. It was possibly the first genuine one he had offered her and at that moment, it was clear that Ringo had earned his respect. She had stood up for herself and out fought him. He understood now that she possessed the tools to defend herself properly.

"We're never going to get along very well, are we?" Ringo asked, still leery of her earlier decision.

"Probably not. I'm not happy that you're coming along. I don't think it's a good idea."

"We've established that, Connor."

"I know you're good at what you do, but I'm not sure how good you'll be at what we do."

"We'll just have to see."

"Aye."


	4. Chapter 4

Four days later, while Smecker performed the task of taking Romeo to his uncles to recuperate fully, Ringo began packing for the journey to New York. They had to drive because flying, although faster, would be too much of a risk. Smecker was going a head of them as soon as he dropped of Romeo in order to make sure the way was clear. The news media had completely fallen victim to her little plot, but slowly, holes were starting to form. The FBI had once again been brought in to investigate and suspicion regarding Dr. Marx had begun to form. Ringo smiled to herself, knowing that as soon as Dr. Marx was located, all the way in Cincinnati Ohio, someone would figure it out, but by that time it would be too late. The FBI couldn't give out too much information because it would cause too much public panic. They could put Dr. Marx's picture on the news, but no one would ever find her. When they contacted the real Allison, they'd realize that they'd been fooled and that the boys weren't dead at all. But what happened then? Ringo highly doubted that the FBI would actually admit that they'd let the three most lethal individuals in Boston simply slip out of prison. So they'd probably begin another man hunt without the knowledge of the general public. But they just didn't understand that without the media, they'd never actually find the boys. Ringo was sure of that. She was too good at staying under the radar. Hell, the FBI didn't even know that Ringo Carson existed.

"What if they find us?" Murphy asked, quietly. "They have your picture at the prison. Couldn't they just release it?"

"Don't worry Murph. I wore a wig, colored contacts, red lipstick. They couldn't find me if they wanted to."

"What about all that CSI shit…facial recognizing software?" he questioned.

"As far as I know, there isn't a picture of me in existence. Murphy, I know Smecker told you a lot about me, but he didn't tell you the most important thing…" Ringo began.

"An' what would that be?" Connor interrupted from behind his brother. His eyes were hard, already jumping to wild conclusions. When Ringo matched his stare, he softened them, willing her to continue.

"I don't exist. I don't need to. I've got a fake driver's license that I only use to drink and buy my cigarettes. I don't use a credit card, I don't keep any of my money in the bank. The apartment I live in is owned by a friend of mine who I've pulled a couple of jobs with. As is the car I drive. I use a pre-paid cell phone, I certainly have never had an honest job in my entire life and have never paid a dime in taxes. You could search any government database around and I wouldn't be in it." she explained. Murphy smiled at her cleverness and Connor mulled over the information in his head.

"What about who you used to be?" he asked, attempting to combat her confidence.

"Nadia Azarenka." Ringo noted, in a perfect Russian accent.

"Yeah. Smecker told us you ran away the night you're parents were killed. Certainly there's a paper trail there…"

"No. I was born in Moscow. My birth certificate is there. My father moved to Boston when I was two in order to meet the demands of his every growing mafia business. He was promoted to an underboss when we arrived. The mafia has different ways of doing things, sans paper trails. We came here under false identities, and I haven't had a real one since. The night my parents were murdered, I hid out back in the dog house. Somehow Smecker found me and he was alone. He knew that if I was taken into protective custody, the rest of my fathers associates would find me, and no amount of witness protection or protection by the FBI would stop them from killing me. So…he told me to run. And I did. I was sixteen."

Murphy's eyes widened and he began jumping up and down quickly before blurting, "Connor, fuck me if she isn't the most brilliant woman in the entire fuckin' world!"

"Yeah, sure seems like it, don't it." Connor muttered. "You're one hundred percent positive that you can't be identified?"

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to not exist." Ringo offered. Connor narrowed his eyes for a moment before smiling.

"Atta girl." he told her, before turning to leave the room.

"I can't believe you've lived like this for over ten years!" Murphy cried, pulling Ringo into a tight embrace. She laughed lightly and offered him a cigarette from the pack that was retrieved from her jean pocket. He gladly accepted it and loosened his grasp. They stood, smoking in silence before Murphy excused himself to go find something to eat. Ringo nodded and returned to her packing. Connor re-entered the room, silently waiting for his presence to be acknowledged.

"What do you need, Connor?" she asked pleasantly, turning from her duffle bag in order to face him. He cleared his throat before replying.

"Murph and I are all packed up and ready to go. I loaded everything into the car. But I think we're missing one thing." the older twin told her. Ringo thought for a moment, before smiling at Connor and shaking her head. Connor smiled back, knowingly.

"You want your guns?" she guessed.

"We need our guns." he corrected. Ringo noticed that after she'd informed him that there was very little chance that she would indeed be identified as Dr. Marx, it seemed like the world had been lifted off of his shoulders, and while she knew that Connor still wasn't too sure of her involvement, he at least trusted that she could get them to New York in one piece.

"Connor, I don't think you'll be needing them. You're going to be in the car for a few hours, only stopping a couple times. I doubt any killing will be needed, Mr. MacManus." Ringo told him, still smiling brightly.

"It's a comfort thing. The only sense of security we have." he told her simply. A smile was evident, but the tone of voice revealed the truth behind the statement. Ringo nodded, understanding the intense desire that the MacManus brothers had for their security, and pointed to a box that was laid on top of her bed. It contained four guns, two for each brother, and a dual shoulder holster for each as well.

"Smecker gave me the name of your dealer. Tom?"

"Aye. How is the fella?"

"Business as usual. He was more than willing to replace the iron that was taken from you by the FBI."

"Did you get one for yourself?" Connor questioned.

"Nah."

"Ringo."

"Connor."

"Look, I already told ya that I'm not happy about you being mixed up in all this. I can't worry about you and Murph at the same time. Get yourself a damn gun or you don't fuckin' go with us." Connor threatened.

"I don't even want to fucking go!" Ringo roared. "I'm only fucking going because you can't keep your ass out of trouble. No, you know what?! You can get to New York on your fucking own if you're going to talk to me like that. I'm not a child, Connor. I can decide if I want a gun or not!"

"No, Ringo, you fuckin' listen to me!" Connor spat angrily, "I know you don't give a damn about yourself, but I fuckin' do! I fuckin' do! I've lost too many people that tried to get involved with what we do and I'm not going to do it again!" Connor took a step towards her and roughly shook her shoulders. His eyes were as angry as Ringo had ever seen then and her face went white with fear. Connor's eyes suddenly lost their rage and he let go of her and took a step back. "Now you get yourself a goddamn gun and you get in the fuckin' car!" he finished with ragged breathing, roughly grabbing her duffel and then proceeded to stalk out of the room. Ringo stood silent, shocked and a little afraid. She'd never been yelled at like that. The extent of Connor's anger at her had finally been released and Ringo found herself unable to move or speak.

"Ringo, I-" Murphy tried.

"Murphy, just go get into the car with your brother. I'll be right out." Ringo choked out softly. Murphy didn't press his luck and did as she asked. Ringo took a moment and let out a shaky breath before going to her closet and opening the door quickly. She all but ripped a box out of the very back corner and furiously thrust her hand inside, pulling out a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a holster. She carried them both in her left hand as she quickly walked out of the house, the expression on her face completely blank. She ripped the door of the Range Rover open and threw the gun and holster into Connor's lap where he sat in the drivers seat. Murphy's eyes glanced between the two from his place in the back, obviously uncomfortable.

"Happy? Now get out and let me drive. You don't know the way." Ringo stated softly, not meeting Connor's eyes. She felt like a child. Because in reality, no one had yelled at her like that in over ten years. The last person to speak to her like that, with that much authority was her father. Anger wasn't quite the correct emotion that the lady felt. She was embarrassed. Yes, embarrassed was the perfect word. Maybe it was the look in Connor's eyes when he'd yelled at her; the hurt that she saw when he said that too many people close to him had died. She felt foolish for not just getting the damn gun like he'd asked her too.

"Obliged." Connor whispered before slipping out of the drivers side. He held the door open for her and then shut it forcefully after she entered the car. No one spoke as he took his place on the passenger side. Murphy fidgeted in the back seat, but dared not cross his brother or Ringo by uttering a single word. Ringo backed out of the driveway and began the four hour drive to New York.

* * *

Thirty minutes into the drive, Murphy fell asleep to avoid the awkward silence. Connor and Ringo both stared straight ahead, only moving to adjust their sunglasses every few minutes. Ringo thought about turning on the radio, but decided against the notion due to the fact that Connor probably only liked the sound of gunshots, not guitars. She giggled lightly to herself at the thought of Connor MacManus falling asleep to "Gunshots on CD: the Two Disc Set." At her laugh, Connor looked in her direction, but quickly dismissed it and went back to staring at the road. Two hours passed before any noise other than Murphy's breathing in the back was heard. The noise that broke this silence was Ringo's cell phone. She hurriedly answered it, shaken by the sudden sound.

"Hello?"

"Ringo, it's Smecker. Look, New York is no longer an option. Someone at the FBI leaked the fact that the boys may not be dead and the media is in a frenzy. They've released an official statement agreeing to this and tightening of airport security. JFK is a mad house. There must be twenty agents outside alone. You've gotta turn around. The boys can't come here. They've got sketches fucking everywhere. Especially on tv."

"Well what the fuck am I supposed to do, Smecker?!" Ringo asked, her voice getting shrill, "I've got one asleep in the back, I've got one that wants to fucking shoot me and I don't know where the fuck you expect me to fucking go!" At this point, she was almost crying into the phone. The idea of spending even more time in the car with Connor made Ringo want to curl up in a ball and sob. She felt tears coming to her eyes from the sheer exhaustion she felt mixed with the extremely awkward two hours she'd already experienced on the car ride. More tears started falling as Smecker tried to explain his new plan, but all Ringo could hear was a ringing inside her head somewhere. She felt someone taking the phone out of her hand gently and turned slightly to realize it was Connor. He had taken off his sunglasses, but his face remained void of any emotion. Ringo let him slide the phone out of her hand.

"What do you need us to do, Smecker?" Connor asked. Smecker told him the new and improved plan of escaping the east coast while Ringo pulled the SUV to a stop on the side of road. She turned to see if Murphy had woken up, but smiled after seeing him still sleeping soundly. Connor snapped the phone shut and brought her out of her thoughts.

"He wants us to go south. Says he'll call back when he's got a more succinct plan, as it were." Connor told her quietly. Ringo nodded and made to pull the car back onto the road, but Connor placed his hand over hers on the shifter in order to prevent that. "Ringo calm down. It's all going to be just fine."

"O-okay." Ringo stuttered out. Connor left his hand there until Ringo was forced to make eye contact with him. Even through her sunglasses, Ringo knew he could see the tear stains caressing her cheeks.

"Would you like me to drive, Ringo?" Connor questioned, removing his hand from hers. She nodded and quickly switched places with him.

"I can't stop shaking, for some goddamn reason." she muttered when they had resumed driving; this time, the opposite direction on the back roads. Connor didn't avert his eyes from the road for long, but glanced and realized that she was indeed shaking slightly.

"Try to get some sleep. Like Murph." he offered, flatly. Ringo nodded and reclined the seat. She positioned her body up against the door so that she was facing Connor, watching him concentrate on the road before drifting off to the same dreamland as Murphy.

* * *

Ringo woke abruptly from a rather confusing dream to find Connor pulling off at an exit. They had moved from the back roads to a popular highway during the time of her nap and Ringo had no idea where she was. Murphy was awake now too, and he and Connor were speaking to each other in French, just as they had the first day they'd met Ringo.

"P

ourquoi faut-il toujours se battre avec lui, mon frère?" Murphy asked angrily.

"Regarde, frère, elle a été celui qui l'a commencé. Tout ce que je demande, c'est qu'elle porter une arme à feu." Connor replied coolly. They stopped when Ringo raised her seat back up and started to look around.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Smecker called while you were asleep." Connor began. "Told us to stop for the evening. I've been driving for about six hours. We're in South Carolina."

"He still doesn't have a plan?"

"Oh, he does. We're flying out of Atlanta tomorrow. Smecker has a contact that got us the flight out. Says that we're not big news in the south yet." Murphy explained. Ringo nodded, there wasn't much else she could do. It was this, or nothing. She looked around the exit that they were at for a decent hotel.

"Smecker better have booked this hotel online, because that fucker knows I don't have a credit card to get the room. You have to have a credit card on file in order to get it." Ringo realized.

"He said he took care of it." Murphy informed her. "Said it'd be under your name." Ringo breathed a sigh of relief and hopped out of the car to check in as soon as Connor pulled up to the Holiday Inn that Smecker had instructed. She walked inside and up to the front desk.

"Hi, welcome to the Holiday Inn, do you have a reservation?" the perky receptionist ask.

"Uh, yeah. It's under Ringo Carson I believe." she replied pleasantly.

"Ah, yes. One room, two queen sized beds. 427. I'll just need your signature here."

Ringo groaned inwardly at the fact that they only had one room. Damn Smecker for not caring about her privacy. Sucking it up and reminding herself that this was bigger than her, Ringo lethargically made her way back out to the car. Murphy and Connor were arguing again over what to eat, when her voice interrupted them.

"427." she told them.

"And the other?" Connor asked.

"There isn't an 'other.' One room. Two beds. Let's go."

The three gathered their bags and made their way inside to the elevator. They took it up to the fourth floor and walked a little ways before standing in front of the door to room 427. Murphy slid in the card key to open the door, holding it open for Ringo. She walked in followed by the MacManus brothers. Instantly, she dropped her bag on the bed by the window and turned to grin at the boys.

"How long's it been since you two boys shared a bed?" she teased.

"Not long enough!" Murphy mumbled.

"Aw, Murph. You can share my bed with me if you promise to be good." Ringo offered. At this, Connor's eyes widened and he crossed his arms.

"I promise!" Murphy cried happily before dropping his bag next to hers on the bed. "Look, Conn, you've got your own bed now!"

"Praise be to Jesus." Connor muttered, throwing his own bag down. Ringo met his disapproving countenance with a blank expression. It was getting dark outside and she felt the need for more sleep, not the need to deal with Connor and his arsenal of distaste for her. The last few days had completely taken away all of her energy, although adrenaline had kept her on her feet.

"I'm fuckin' hungry." Murphy complained.

'Order a pizza Murph. We can't really chance goin' out." Connor suggested, throwing a pizza delivery service flyer from the nightstand at his twin. Murphy's eyes lit up as Ringo threw her cell phone into his eager hands. Ringo declined a choice of pizza toppings and Connor requested pineapple before turning on the television. He watched it in silence as Murphy and Ringo lay down on their bed, backs against the headboard. The pizza arrived not long later and as the boys tore into it, Ringo took the opportunity to take a shower while they were preoccupied. She let the steaming hot water wash away all of the mixed emotions of the day and tried to, once and for all, calm the fuck down. After taking quite possibly the longest shower of her life, she got out and redressed. The boys had retreated to the balcony to smoke, and Ringo decided that now was as good a time as any to go to bed without being bothered.

"Oy Ringo! You going to bed already?" Murphy called from outside.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." she called back. Murphy smiled at her before returning to the cigarette. Before she knew it, Ringo was lulled to sleep by the sound of soft Irish accents out on a balcony. Before she completely let sleep take over, she thought she heard her name being mentioned.

"I don't know, Conn. She seemed really shaken up by your little authority rant." Murphy muttered softly. "I wouldn't be surprised if she fuckin' hit your fuckin' face."

"I know, Murphy. I just lost it. I can't stand to see someone el-"

"Look, just ease up. She can take care of herself. You yelling at her all the fucking time isn't doing anything but upset her."

Ringo smiled to herself and silently thanked Murphy for sticking up for her. But she still couldn't force herself to be angry with Connor for his outburst. The only emotion that seemed to come out was confusion. Confusion as to why he cared about her so much that he would get so up in arms about something like a gun. Even when Murphy crawled into bed next to her, she found herself starring at Connor's form in the bed next to hers. He turned and met her glance at one point, but only briefly. She tried to convey her confusion to him with a look that couldn't possibly say all she needed it to, but he simply offered her a sad smile before turning back over and falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Ringo couldn't shake the sad look that Connor had given her. She tossed and turned, but couldn't seem to see or think of anything else. That hard headed, self-righteous, gun slinging, control freak had gotten into her head too easily. If this was any other job, she'd never allow herself to get this wrapped up in an accomplice. That was the rule. Her rule. People are expendable. But this MacManus brother was different. He hadn't liked her from the start.

"Well, join the club. I don't like me either." she whispered out loud in Connor's direction.

"Now why would that be?" a whisper from behind her asked. Ringo could feel Murphy's hot breath on the back of her neck and it made her shiver. He was close to her and she had been so preoccupied with glaring at the sleeping Connor to realize that he had moved that way. Murphy tugged on the hem of Ringo's t-shirt as a request to turn over. The lady obliged him and smiled as she stared at his face in the soft moonlit room. He looked even more attractive in this light. His eyes seemed to glow and his trademark stare made Ringo blush, although she couldn't figure out why. How could twins be such opposites? Here was Murphy, sweet, silly Murphy. He'd obviously liked Ringo well enough from the start. Grateful, even. Ringo was thankful she'd offered to share a bed with him rather than his counterpart.

"I have my reasons." was her soft answer.

"Well, they can't be very good reasons, now can they?"

"I think they're wonderful reasons, Murph. Ask your brother. I'm sure he can give you a long list."

Murphy smiled and wrapped and arm around Ringo, pulling her closer to make up the distance she'd gained when turning over. His eyes searched hers to make sure it was okay to make such a move. Finding the answer he desired, Murphy moved his hand to Ringo's hip. A small strip of skin was left unguarded by her sweatpants and t-shirt and his fingers began to slide across it.

"Well I don't think there's a damn thing wrong with you, m'lady. Other than the whole thieving thing you've got going on." at this, Ringo laughed under her breath, "But other than that, I think you're fine." Murphy smelled like cigarettes and something that was uniquely him. Ringo was so close to him that every breath she inhaled drove her senses wild. She wondered if Connor smelled the same way. Oh, how her desire to find out grew. But wait, it wasn't Connor who was moving his fingers slowly across her hip. It was Murphy. Ringo's breath hitched as she realized that the playful mood had completely dissipated. Murphy's eyes were darker, more seductive and his jaw clenched tight. No, this wasn't Connor at all. Did part of Ringo wish it was? No, never. Murphy once again searched Ringo's eyes for permission, and although she didn't realize that it was even happening, Ringo nodded ever so slightly. No, certainly not Connor.

It was Murphy who was moving his head towards her ear, whispering carefully, "Are you sure?" Another nod. A strangled, "Yes."

It was Murphy who then softly grazed his lips against her neck, sending her mind into a frenzy that she'd never known. "It's been a while" left his lips. "Me too" escaped hers.

It was Murphy who kissed a trail up her throat, stopping only when he arrived at her parted lips. One more asking glace. One hand on the back of his head, willing him to finish what he started.

It was Murphy who kissed her lips silently, knowing his brother was a light sleeper. Hands roaming Ringo's torso, pushing her t-shirt up, touching the skin of her stomach. Hands grabbing his hair, pulling his lips harder against hers.

It was Murphy who then abandoned lips for stomach, feeling her back arching, watching her body react to his every move, seeing her mouth open in a silent moan.

"FUCK" Ringo shouted, her body bolting up from the bed. Beside her, Murphy stirred and scrambled out of bed, grabbing his gun. Connor, mirroring his brother's movements exactly.

"What the hell, Ringo?" Connor roared, obviously angry that his sleep had been disturbed.

"Yeah, Ringo. What's the matter?" Murphy chimed.

A dream. A fucking dream. Ringo shook her head quickly and laid back down, mumbling a frustrated, "sorry, bad dream." Connor wouldn't let it go though.

"What about?" he pressed. Any normal man would have given up after receiving the glare that the blond girl sent his way, but no. Connor MacManus wasn't that smart.

"It. Was. A. Bad. Dream." Ringo stated loudly. Murphy wiped his eyes and dropped his gun, falling back into bed. "Go back to sleep Connor. I'm sorry. My bad. I screwed up. I'm a hassle. I'll tape my mouth shut and turn off my brain. Is that what you want to hear?" Ringo was panting, not knowing if it was from the dream about Murphy or her anger with Connor.

"Ringo. Shut the fuck up and go back to bed." Connor spat, returning to his own bed. That was it. She really just couldn't take it anymore. Ringo jumped out of the shared bed and lunged at the older twin, pillow in hand. Once on top of him, Ringo proceeded to attempt to smother him with the object in her hands. Murphy just rolled over and fell back asleep, not caring if Connor got killed by the 5'1" woman.

"How about you shut the fuck up, Connor. It was a dream. I'm so sorry I woke you up." she grunted, as Connor tried to fight her off. All too suddenly, he prevailed and had her pinned beneath his weight. His eyes were unreadable as he began to assault her with her own weapon: a feather pillow of death. Ringo growled, but then began to laugh at how ridiculous they were acting. Connor stopped the attack long enough to prove that he was now smiling slightly as well. Gently, he placed the pillow behind Ringo's head, but stayed above her, prohibiting any movement.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. Dreams can be frightening."

"You should be. And this one wasn't so much frightening as it was relieving to wake up from."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Connor. Now if you'll gladly get the fuck off, I'll return to my bed."

"No. Stay with me. Murphy's had you most of the night. I want a turn." he said sheepishly. Ringo was stunned and her eyes showed it.

"Wh-what?" she asked, not trusting that she heard him correctly.

"When you do what we do, there's always someone after you. Someone that wants to see you dead. The nightmares are bad, but the feeling of always having to sleep with one eye open is the worst. When you share a bed with someone else…well it's just relaxing, okay?" Connor mumbled quickly. His eyes met hers and not finding the reaction he wanted, quickly turned on his side and faced towards the wall. Ringo was reeling from the vulnerability that she had just witnessed from the usually reserved, clever twin.

"I understand completely." she whispered into his ear as she laid down next to him. Reluctantly, Connor turned back to lay on his back. Ringo's hand found his as she closed her eyes. She expected him to brush it away, but instead the Irishman held it tight and sighed before slipping back into sleep. Her dream began again, but this time it was Connor's face that she saw, like earlier during her dream while riding in the car. This time, when she woke up, Ringo simply snuggled closer to Connor and willed herself back to sleep, hoping it would pick up right where they left off.

The next morning, Ringo woke up, her dream fully played out. However, she almost cursed out loud when she noticed the position she'd found herself in. During the night, their legs had become tangled and his hands were on her waist, holding her back to his chest.

"Fuck, we're spooning!" Ringo cried inwardly, praying for a way to get out without waking the sleeping man up. Quickly would be the best way. Ringo counted to three in her head before all but ripping herself from his grasp. He may have opened up to her the night before, but Ms. Carson was positive that Mr. MacManus would have a fit if he woke up with her that way and all the progress would be forgotten. No, she couldn't let that happen. As soon as she moved away from him, Ringo quickly moved onto her side, facing Connor. He stirred and blinked his eyes open, smiling shyly at Ringo, who was pretending to be asleep, although silently thanking God for allowing the move to work.

"I know you're not asleep." Connor quipped. Ringo opened one eye and smiled. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"You're so sweet and kind when you're asleep. You smile and everything!"

"Ah, fuck off." Connor retorted, chuckling. Ringo playfully slapped his shoulder before closing her eyes again.

"Go back to sleep, Connor. It's only seven."

"Nope, the flight is at one. We've gotta go. Get your arse outta bed if you want something to eat." Connor corrected.

"Fuck me." Ringo groaned. Connor moved to get out of the bed, but Ringo grabbed his arm to stop him. "Fuck breakfast. We'll get coffee on the way. Now get your Irish 'arse' back into this bed. You need another hour of sleep."

"Yes ma'am." Murphy mumbled from the next bed. Connor shook his head, but complied with her wishes. An hour later, like clockwork, Connor shook Ringo and Murphy out of sleep, commanding them to grab their bags and get into the Rover. They both complained grumpily, but to no avail. Connor was having none of it. Ringo helped each pack up while the boys each took a shower, waiting in the car for them to finish up. Murphy had won the first shower and smugly took the front seat next to Ringo. As Connor made his way out of the building, Ringo and Murphy began to heckle him from the SUV.

"FUCKIN A, CONNOR. GET A MOVE ON!" Ringo shouted.

"GET THE LEAD OUT, BROTHER!" Murphy added. When Connor finally reached the car he glared at both before taking his place in the back seat, grumbling about kicking Murphy's ass.

"To Atlanta?" Ringo questioned as the Range Rover pulled out of the parking lot.

"Fuck yeah!" Murphy cried.

"Just keep your eyes on the fuckin' road." Connor griped.


	6. Chapter 6

"I feel like a hot mess." Ringo complained from the backseat.

"You look like one!" Connor quipped back. The trio had been driving for several more hours before finally arriving at the destination. Following the meticulous directions as described to Connor by Smecker, they finally made it to the private airstrip thrity minutes outside of downtown Atlanta. Ringo glared at Connor's smirking face as she looked out of the window and watched a black sedan pull up next to hers, revealing none other than Agent Paul Smecker.

"Hot-lanta is fucking right." she added as she reluctantly pulled her body from the car. "I don't do this heat shit, Smeck!"

"I know, Ringo." Smecker acknowledged her with a small nod and look that suggested she should stop talking. "You've pulled Vegas jobs before. You know heat."

"That's fucking different!"

"You're going on a private jet. You'll be fine. Since when did you become so high maintenance, Carson?" he asked, smirking. Ringo threw her middle finger into the air before grabbing a duffel and climbing the stairs into the plane.

"What's wrong with her?" Murphy wondered out loud as he and Connor also grabbed their duffels out of the back of the Range Rover.

"She hates to fly." Smecker informed the twins. Connor scoffed and rolled his blue eyes as Murphy chuckled and sprinted onto the plane. Once on the jet, he stood in the middle, and began to point to each exit, mimicking a flight attendant, rambling about oxygen masks and flotation devices.

"…and in the event of a fiery crash, put yer head between yer legs and kiss yer ass goodbye!" he finished, throwing his arms in the air to signal the completion of his speech. Ringo looked on, unimpressed. Meanwhile, Connor stood outside in the Georgia heat, going over final details with Smecker.

"So we're going back to Europe?" Connor clarified.

"London to be exact. I take it you boys are ready to get back to work?"

"Of fucking course."

"Good. I've got a job lined up for you there. Here's a folder with the basic detail-"

"Smecker, when the fuck did we become the FBI? Just tell us the mark and we'll do 'em."

"Just take the folder to Ringo." Smecker insisted. Connor nodded warily and grabbed it roughly. "I'll see you boys and girl later!" Paul called as he walked towards his own vehicle.

"You're not coming with us?" Ringo called, peeking her head out of the door. Her sanity depended on having someone else onboard to talk to - one without an Irish accent and beautiful blue eyes. All of her hopes were crushed in an instant when Smecker slowly shook his head signaling that she was still on her own. It was just like him to only stick around for five minutes, give them basically no information, and then make his exit. Ringo felt the rage of being outside of the loop swell up inside, down to her very core.

"I'll be along in a few days. I've got a few things to take care of before I leave the states completely. Eunice will see to it that you get settled in." And with that, Paul Smecker took his leave. It then hit Ringo Carson that it was very possible that she would never be able to return to the United States. She hastily cleared her mind of the implications that this fact caused and went back to her seat. Connor sighed and joined his brother and Ringo on the plane. Within ten minutes the pilot made his way back to cabin to introduce himself. Ringo couldn't be bothered to listen or care at this point. She was too busy trying to slow her breathing. The jet was large enough so that each person had an entire section to themselves. Connor was looking over the folder intently. Murphy had settled on a couch and was flipping through a tabloid, looking disgusted.

"Who the fuck cares about all these people?" he grumbled, albeit not putting down the magazine. Ringo sat alone in the back on a smaller couch and squeezed her eyes shut tightly as the plane began to move slowly down the runway. The only thing in her stomach was the cheeseburger that she'd had for lunch and it was threatening to make a curtain call all over the private jet. Ringo was most thankful that each MacManus was turned away from her so that her breakdown was to go unnoticed. Until, leave it to Connor, one looked back at her.

"Oy, Ringo! Pull yerself together!" He snapped.

"Fuck off, MacManus." Ringo shouted. Murphy looked up from his magazine (by this point, he'd become one of the people who "cares about all these people." Brad and Angie adopting again? Could it be? Murphy decided to read on further to find out) and sighed, bracing himself for a war of wit and curse words.

"Hey, be more specific, I didn't do anything!" He mumbled.

"Shut the fuck up Murphy!" Ringo roared. "Everyone just needs to be fucking quiet!" The plane began to climb into the sky and Ringo groaned as he face lost it's remaining color. "I swear to God-" her next statement stopped short as the plane became almost vertical in the sky and she was pressed against her seat. "FUCK. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna fucking die. FUCK!" The cursing continued until the aircraft was once again horizontal to the ground. Connor, having quite enough of the hysterical woman, rose from his seat and walked back to her. His hardened eyes softened as he noticed how her entire body still shook from fright.

"Stop being such a scaredy-cat!" the older twin teased, taking the open spot next to her. Ringo opened her mouth to retort, but as she did the plane experienced it's first bout of turbulence from an air pocket. Ringo squealed and shut her eyes, willing the tears to go back to wherever they came from.

"It's just an air-pocket, Ringo!" Murphy called.

"How the fuck would you know!" Connor asked.

"Fuck you, I know shit!" Murphy replied, mimicking his brother.

"Whatever. Ringo, it's fine. Everything is fine. Calm the fuck down." Connor said as comfortingly as the Irishman could muster. Ringo shook her head vigorously and refused to remove the white knuckled grip she had on the armrest. Connor went back to his seat for a moment, returning quickly with the folder that had been bestowed upon him by Smecker. "Hey, take a look at this." he offered, hoping to distract the lady from her fear.

"What is it?" Ringo asked, opening only one eye.

"Our next job." he offered simply. Ringo obliged and opened the other eye. She slowly removed her hands from their death grip and took the folder.

"Jarvis Whittaker…human trafficking…fuck!" Ringo exclaimed, "Connor, he's a member of Parliament!"

"Indeed."

"What the fuck, Connor. You're a political assassin now? This is a death wish!"

"Bad men, dead men." Connor reminded her. "We do what needs to be done."

"We're equal opportunity vigilantes!" Murphy shouted. Ringo smiled and shook her head.

"Do I have to shoot anyone?" she asked, glancing nervously between the twins.

"It's a very real possibility." Murphy informed.

"I don't know if-" she began.

"Ringo, you do what you have to do. If that means shooting someone to save yerself or one of us, I trust you can handle it." Connor stated, his eyes never leaving hers until he got the answer he needed:

"I can handle it."


	7. Chapter 7

Ringo's mind was racing at the speed of light. Mafia bosses, she could handle. Thugs, easy as pie to take down. Members of the British government were a completely different story. One wrong move and the Saints would be completely outted and all of Ringo's hard work would be wasted. Not to mention the fact that if this Parliament member was so corrupt that he was involved in human trafficking, that meant that he had the backing of something bigger than and certainly not limited to the mafia. Ringo understood the way that the Mafia worked. Hell, she'd been taught the rules and regulations of a life of organized crime. The people that immersed themselves into the sex slave trade didn't abide by these same rules at all. They had power, but no class, no self respect. Ringo wasn't even sure she knew who was at the top of such an organization, but she knew that if everyone was out for their own gains within the trading, it was going to be much harder to find the way to the head honcho. She realized that they might never find someone who amounted to more than a street pimp, no matter how much blood was shed. Trafficking was a huge game of numbers and if the boys started messing with profits too much, Ringo knew that there was no way that they'd be able to shoot their way out of it. Too many people depended on someone at each stage of the process to keep it flowing in and out of countries around the world.

Pushing all of her fears about becoming involved in this type of business to the back of her mind for the time being, Ringo once again white knuckled the couch as the plane made its final, bumpy descent into a small, private airport outside of London. The color finally returned to her face as the landing gear was deployed and the wheels finally touched the ground and the plane came to a slow halt.

"Thank God." Ringo muttered as she stood up and steadied her balance. After a moment of regaining her strength from the tumultuous plane ride, Ringo grabbed her bag and quickly made an exit from the plane after realizing that the MacManus brothers had already vacated the cabin. She then heard a sultry southern draw from outside and braced herself for the newest person that she'd rather not deal with.

"Boys! How absolutely lovely it is to see you again. This time, under much more favorable circumstances." Eunice Bloom cooed. Ringo glanced at each brother, noticing how their eyes traveled up and down Bloom's frame. Pft, so what if she wore tight dresses with four inch heels and spoke like a southern belle. Fuck her. Ringo then glanced at her own attire which consisted of a black t-shirt, gray cargo pants and black combat boots. Her hair certainly wasn't a match for the long, red tresses of Special Agent Bloom, but hell, a pony tail was much more practical. But still, both brothers were grinning slyly and making it painfully obvious that they enjoyed Eunice's presence.

"Aye. And you look as wonderful as ever, Eunice." Connor purred, almost making Ringo gag right on the spot. She rolled her eyes and pulled out her cigarettes hastily.

"And you must be the talented Ms. Ringo Carson."

"Obviously." Ringo spat. Her nerves were already shot between the plane ride and the whole 'take out a distinguished member of Parliament' thing to really give a flying fuck about Eunice Bloom. However, Ringo did find herself giving a fuck about how the boy's eyes still couldn't leave her frame. "And you must be Smecker's lap dog." At this, Connor's eyes found Ringo's and sent her a glare. Probably for disturbing the mind fuck that he was currently participating in. Eunice chuckled and dismissed Ringo with a wave of her hand before returning her attention to the brothers. Murphy smirked at the exchange between the two women, secretly hoping for a possible girl fight.

"Now boys, if you'd be so kind to grab your belongings and your _baggage_-" with this, a small, cold smile was sent towards Ringo, "-and follow me, I'd be delighted to take you to your place of residence."

"Did she just call me baggage!" Ringo asked Murphy as the three followed Bloom to a parked car a few feet from the plane.

"Now Ringo, don't be unprofessional." he teased. Ringo replied with a swift punch to the shoulder. "ow!" Murphy cried.

"Both of ye, quit acting like yer five and get the fuck into the car!" Connor all but roared. Ringo rolled her eyes again and pushed past Connor, nonverbally showing him how displeased she was with the involvement of Eunice Bloom. Connor sighed and took the passenger seat up front with Eunice while Murphy huffed about having to sit in the back.

"I know that I'm no Special Agent Bloom, Murph, but I'm certainly not chopped liver either!" Ringo whispered vehemently, daggers shooting into Murphy.

"Sorry, Ringy."

"Fuck off. No you're not." she spat. Her eyes turned to the English countryside that the car flew past at an astonishing speed. "As if she can pretend she's a better driver than me." Ringo muttered to herself.

"What was that, Ringo?" Connor scolded, turning his head to look at her. Ringo noted that his eyes would be much less smoldering if he wasn't constantly using them to look at her as if she was a five year old. Satisfied that his glare had shut her up for the moment, he turned his attention back to the driver of the car. "So, Eunice, where will we be staying?" he asked.

"Smecker's set you boys up real fine like," the red head informed him, "A nice little cottage in the country side. A place that won't draw much attention. It'll give us a place for you two to plan out your little coo in Parliament."

"Who's assuming we're going to waltz into open Parliament and start shooting?" Ringo questioned, not deterred in the slightest by yet another stern look from Connor. "That might work in Boston, but it sure as hell won't work here! It's a fucking death wish times ten!"

"Aye, Ringy, but that's just how we like to live our lives!" Murphy offered with a smile. "Live dangerously, or be a fucking pussy!"

"Murph, shut the fuck up. And Ringo, we're not going to do anything of the sort. You should fucking know that. Ms. Bloom simply means that the loss of such an influential political figure will cause a stir." Connor said, proud of himself to say the least.

"Too right you are, Mr. MacManus." Eunice chimed lightly. This only caused Ringo to become more irate and she began to squirm uncomfortably in the back seat. Murphy noticed and patted her leg a few times in an attempt to calm her down. This only served to make Ringo more angry.

"I need to get out of this fucking car!" she complained, after the time began to elapse especially slowly, Eunice's hushed conversation with Connor was not helping matters. "Who do they think they are?" Ringo whispered to Murphy angrily.

"I dunno, lass. I've learned to go with the flow. They're probably coming up with some golden plan." Murphy offered, leaning in.

"Think he's brought up the rope yet?" Ringo squeaked, failing to contain a giggle. Murphy smiled back and started to giggle as well and soon the back seat of the small sedan was erupting with laughter.

"OYE, what's the matter with you two?" Connor asked, amusement in his eyes for one brief moment. By this point, the only thing either the blond or the other twin were able to mutter was , 'r-r-r-rope!"

After what seemed like hours, the foursome finally arrived at their destination. Eunice only stayed long enough to open the doors and show the boys around, conveniently ignoring all comments about the state of the cottage made by Ringo.

It was a simple, two story tudor style cottage with one bedroom upstairs furnished with two beds and a small sitting room with a wood stove and chimney. Downstairs was another bedroom with one bed, a small kitchen with ancient appliances, a living room a few chairs and a fireplace. It was obvious that no renovations had been made since the cottage was built and Ringo had never felt more out of her element. Her New York apartment was looking like the Waldorf at this point. The twins however, seemed right at home and eagerly bounded up the stairs to claim their beds. The blond reluctantly settled into the downstairs bed, shivering from the cold draft that was flowing through the room.

"Cold, Ringo?" came a voice from the doorway. There Connor stood, smirking at the young woman whose teeth had begun to chatter.

"Ah, you n-n-noticed." Ringo offered.

"I'll light a fire for you, if you'd like."

"Much obliged, Connor."

"You going to be alright down here?" the twin asked.

"I suppose. As long as I don't freeze to death."

"You'll be fine. Here, have my jacket." Connor took off his black pea coat and wrapped it around Ringo's shoulders, pausing as he began to button it for her.

"You don't have to-" she began, but the look in his eyes told her it was no trouble and that resistance was futile. She was getting the damn coat whether she wanted it or not. This was the closest that Ringo had found herself to the gun toting maniac without being asleep since the day that she had wrestled him to the ground. And if she was to be completely honest, she loved the way it felt to be that close. If she was to save face and be completely dishonest, however, it annoyed the hell out of her. "Thanks." she finally muttered when the task was completed.

"I'll be needing it back." Connor muttered, stepping back and rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. The silence that fell between the two was deafening and Ringo felt a need to regain the closeness that had been lose when Connor stepped back.

"Hungry?" she asked, looking for any reason to get away from the awkward situation she found herself in with the, if once again she was to be honest, ridiculously attractive Irishman.

"Sure, although I'm not sure I trust your cooking." Connor retorted, once again regaining his self-given authority over her. Ringo rolled her eyes and pushed past him, rolling her eyes at her temporary lapse in judgment. Attractive, psh. Dickhead was more like it,

"Get a fucking hold of yourself, Carson." the lady muttered to herself as she rummaged through cabinets to find something edible. She wasn't sure how much more of Connor she could take. Murphy was a dream. A dream from Heaven. She could spend the rest of her life running around shooting up the world with Murphy. But Connor. Connor made her so furious. And it was his own fault too. It might have been the way he never smiled at her, or the way he always felt the need to protect her to the point of driving her crazy. Fuck him. (Oh, but she'd love to. Not to be mentioned. Ever. Even on her death bed. Never. Ever. Ever.)


	8. Chapter 8

Ringo mindlessly played with the hem of Connor's jacket, still shivering despite the roaring fire that he had successfully made to keep her warm. By this time she had resigned herself to the fact that hypothermia was the way she was to die, rather than at the hand of a bullet. Connor's eyes shifted in her direction, as if making sure that his pea-coat was alright in her hands. He smiled at the way Ringo seemed so interested in each stitch, as if they each told a story of Connor's life. Satisfied that his coat was to see no harm, he turned back to face his twin who was seated opposite him at the small table in the common area.

"So whatcha' think, Con?" Murphy asked, his confidence seeming to lack each moment that a succinct plan was not laid into action.

"Hit where he's most comfortable, Murph."

"Are ye sure that's a good idea, brother? I don't think I need to remind ye what happened last time we attempted to kill someone in their own home-"

"Don't say it!"

"-we got Roc killed."

"I said NOT TO SAY IT FUCKER." Connor roared. At this, Ringo was shaken out of her semi-stupor and her gaze fell to Connor's rage filled figure. He was almost as angry as he was the day she tried to refuse a gun.

"Well it's the fucking truth, you dumb wop!" Murphy roared back. This was the first time Rigno had witnessed true anger from Murphy, and she wasn't sure which twin she was more intimidated by at the time. Murphy huffed and stomped up the stairs, fed up with the whole situation. Ringo once again looked at Connor and her eyes softened as he sighed and threw his face into his hands.

"I think we're both just a little on edge. It's been a while." he offered. "I'm not always such a miserable asshole."

"In that case, you could've fooled me." Ringo joked. Her attempt was met with a smile from the lighter haired twin as the two settled into a comfortable silence. "Connor," Ringo tried, breaking the silence, "I understand you're under a lot of stress. But taking it out on me and Murph isn't going to help matters. It's just going to make you hate me more and fighting with your brother isn-"

"I don't hate ye at all, Ringo," Connor interrupted abruptly. "What makes yee think that?"

"It might be the glares you send me every time I try to contribute, or the way you treated me in the car, on BOTH occasions, or-"

"Alright, alright I get it. But in my defense, yer completely insufferable sometimes woman." he laughed. Ringo smiled and rolled her eyes, but once again laid them on Connor's smirking frame. She noticed his eyes looked a softer, more at ease. His posture was more relaxed than it had ever been in her presence. His smile wasn't forced.

"Despite fighting with your brother, you're absolutely at ease in this dammed countryside, aren't you?" the blonde finally decided.

"It reminds me of the house we shared with my da for ten years I suppose." Connor replied, looking around the small cottage with a content grin. However, at the mention of his father, suddenly the smile was gone and the old Connor was back. The rigid, control freak that Ringo had come to love. For whatever fucked up reason.

"I'm sorry Connor. I didn't mean to make you think of him." Ringo offered, worried that she'd awoken some dormant beast that was destined to destroy their good natured banter. Connor sighed again, sadder this time. He moved to leave the table and go outside to smoke a cigarette, but Ringo's hand on his arm stopped him. He recoiled, and Ringo drew her hand back as if she'd been burned. "Sorry…" she mumbled. The Irishman simply shook his head and continued on his way to his original destination. Ringo furiously lit her own cigarette and closed her eyes and growled at the way she'd so quickly ruined everything. After finishing said cigarette, she decided it was best to go check on Murphy. Her steps felt heavy on each wooden stair and upon reaching the small room upstairs, she found Murphy coiled up on his bed, staring at the door as if waiting for someone who was never going to come through it. Murphy didn't notice her presence until Ringo actually laid down on the bed next to him.

"Ringo." he sighed. Ringo smiled sadly at him and brushed a hand against his cheek gently. Truth be told, he was her favorite brother. There was something about him that she was drawn to. And it didn't hurt that he constantly made her feel like she was actually a part of their little vigilante mission from God. Truth be told again, he was probably the more attractive twin solely because he smiled more. His smile was beautiful. Suddenly, Ringo felt nervous and realized that being around such beautiful men twenty-four seven was beginning to take it's toll on her. It simply wasn't fair that she was laying next to a gorgeous Irishman who actually liked her, but it also wasn't fair that all of a sudden every insecurity she'd ever had about every little thing began to make it's appearance.

"I gotta move before I kiss you, Murph." Ringo joked, attempting to make light of the silent advances she felt had been made.

"In that case…" Murphy started before grabbing the back of Ringo's head and pressing his lips against hers roughly. The kiss lasted all of five minutes as Ringo felt herself unable to pull away from Murphy. He tasted of cigarettes and liquor and everything Ringo could have hoped for. It had been so long since she'd kissed a man and to say that it wasn't the most amazing, stomach butterflies experience would be a total and complete lie. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she kept thinking about Connor. These intrusive thoughts simply prolonged the kiss. Determined to get Connor's face out of her mind, Ringo pushed Murphy onto his back and climbed on top of him, allowing her better access to his lips. Her tongue darted out to taste him further and easily gained access. Murphy flipped Ringo onto her back so that he was now on top, moaning slightly when she let her fingernails glide down his back, the sensation still strong through his thin black t-shirt. Ringo wouldn't stop, couldn't stop.

The dream was now reality as Murphy let his hands wander across Ringo's frame, pushing up her t-shirt slightly in the process of doing so. Neither one of them were able to put a stop to the random onslaught of kissing and touching, and neither one care in the slightest. Only one thing could stop them now, and he was outside, out of the way, out of their minds…

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Until he wasn't anymore. Until he was standing right in the doorway. Until his face looked horrified. Until Ringo saw the hurt in his eyes. This was certainly wasn't going to help the planning of the assassination. Ringo shot off the bed in the instant that she heard Connors voice, but Murphy took a little longer. He knew what was coming. Connor tore through the room and wrestled his brother to the floor. Fists and curse words flew from each mouth as they fought for domination. However, the lady that they were fighting over wasn't the least bit impressed by this. She was in shock at the scene in front of her. Shock over what happened. Shock over the fact that she had actually kissed Murphy. Shock over the fact that Connor had seen it. Tears formed in her eyes and she wailed out a cry of defeat as she slumped against the door of the bedroom. The anxiety came fast and furious, until the room was spinning and colors were swirling and she was no longer able to distinguish which brother was cursing.

Panic attack.

Panic.

Attack.

Ringo knew only sobs now. The cursing had stopped. If she had been in the right mind to focus on the boys, she would have noticed the confused looks on their faces at her sudden breakdown. In a moment, however, she was picked up from her position on the floor and carried down the stairs by a pair of strong arms. The tears prohibited vision, but the smell was distinctly Connor. He tears and sobs didn't stop. They simply increased in number. The fact that Connor was comforting her, holding her, only made the situation worse. Her mind SCREAMED at her that she was fucking everything up. And she knew, boy how she knew. This was about something bigger than a fucking kiss. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sobbing like a fool, but all she knew was that Connor never left her side.

As the world faded from view in one final struggle to stay conscious, Ringo was able to utter out a small, "So…sorry." before her exhaustion took her.

* * *

Ringo wasn't sure what time she woke up, but it was dark outside and there was no movement to be heard throughout the cottage. She sat up quickly, unsure of if the events that had just occurred were real or simply another dream. The soreness of her throat told her it was real. The soreness of her head told her it was real. The guilt she felt told her it was real. She groaned into the night, feeling a new wave of tears making an appearance.

"Don't worry about it." A voice came floating through the darkness. It was Connor. He was seated in a chair in the corner of the room. He sounded tired and hurt. Ringo couldn't stand that it was all her fault.

"Conno-"

"I said, don't worry about it. We can't have ye panicking like that when we're supposed to be back doing what we do. So pull yerself together." he insisted as he got up from the chair and left the room.

And the hostility was back. Ringo Carson had probably fucked up any chance of a decent relationship with Connor MacManus. All for a fucking kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few more moments of wallowing in self-pity, Ringo decided that it was probably time to leave the bed. She needed more cigarettes and a few shots of whisky didn't sound too bad either. She grabbed the thin jacket, the only jacket she had, and crept as quietly as she could out of the door. Fifty feet to freedom. If only she could ju-

"And where do you think you're going this late all by yerself?"

More panic. She couldn't deal with Connor anymore, she just couldn't.

Relief. It was Murphy.

"Cigarettes." Ringo mumbled quietly, not able to meet Murphy's eyes. He seemed to sense her discomfort and he nodded silently before grabbing his own pea coat from the back of the chair he had vacated earlier. He motioned to the door before trotting off, looking back once to make sure the girl was still following him. They walked silently through the darkness for about a mile before the lights of a small town came into view. Ringo noticed a small grocery that was still open despite the hour. Murphy followed her inside and offered her a handful of the cash that Eunice had left for the brothers. Once Ringo had purchased a pack for herself and one for Murphy, she thought for a moment before asking for one more pack.

"Peace offering." Was her mumbled answer to Murphy's questioning look. He smirked and nodded, leading the way out of the store.

"Up for a drink?" he asked, once they were back on the street. Murphy pointed to the building next door and waited for Ringo's response.

"Fuck yes. Best idea you've had all day, Murph." Ringo told him, instantly hating herself for the statement. The Irishman hung his head and sighed. "I didn't mean it like that, Murph." She offered. Still he kept his eyes downcast as he turned from her and walked slowly to the bar. "GODDAMNIT MURPHY!" Ringo roared into the quietness of the night. The twin was instantly taken back by her outburst and lifted his head quickly. "Please, please, please, do not start acting like your fucking brother. You're the one who's supposed to be reasonable. So when I tell you I didn't mean it like that, you had better fucking believe that I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'll admit it, Murph, what happened earlier was the best fucking thing that's happened since I've met you two. But you can't deny that it's going to make things a million times more difficult with your brother." Ringo panted as she finished her speech.

"Aye." That was the only response she got from him, but it was clear that he understood. Murphy's eyes met her and he smirked before grabbing her hand and pulling her into the noisy bar.

After they had drank enough beer to completely wash away the awkwardness that had somehow settled earlier in the evening, they sat in a booth together, Murphy laughing loudly as Ringo tried and failed several times to light a cigarette.

"Stop laughing MacManus, like you could do any fucking better!"

"Wanna bet, Ringy?"

With that he grabbed the lighter and cigarette from her fingers and in one swift motion put it to his lips and lit it effortlessly. After taking a long drag Murphy put it to Ringo's lips and smirked as she glared but took it eagerly.

"How the fuck are you sober enough to do that!" she wondered out loud. Murphy just shook his head and shrugged.

"You just can't hold you're liquor! I thought you were fuckin' Russian! They drink vodka with their fucking breakfast."

"Fuck that, I'm- I'm- shit. I'ma sorry excuse for a commie, aren't I?" she giggled. Murphy once again laughed loudly before looking around realizing they were one of the last patrons in the bar. Suddenly the door opened and a figure looked around frantically. Murphy instantly recognized the man and slid down in his seat groaning. Ringo frowned at his action and followed his gaze until her eyes landed on Connor.

"We're fucked. He's gonna fucking kill us." Murphy mumbled. Ringo wasn't so sure. She was too drunk to light a cigarette and with this drunkenness came a confidence that rivaled that of the lighter haired twin. Ignoring Murphy's cries of "Ringo, NO!" she bounded up to Connor and smiled at him, shoving her beer into his hands.

"Connor, speak of the fucking devil. Join us you miserable bastard!"

Connor was not so jovial. He grabbed her arm roughly with the hand that wasn't holding her discarded beer, dragging her to the booth where Murphy sat with a look of pure annoyance at his brothers sudden appearance. He made to stand when Connor approached, anger seething from his face.

"Connor, fucking let go! You're hurting my arm!" Ringo whined. Connor immediately let her go at her command and she found that her legs would not support her any longer and she fell onto the floor face first. Murphy pushed Connor away and quickly bent to pick Ringo up off the floor. He glared at his twin, the same anger now seething from his being.

"You prick."

"Get her up and get into the car. I'll deal with you later." Connor spat, pointing to the door. Murphy shook his head and pulled Ringo up into a standing position before wrapping her arm around his neck and his arm around her waist. Ringo struggled to keep up with his pace, all the while spitting curses at Connor for ruining her good time. Murphy rolled his eyes and gingerly placed her in the backseat before joining his brother in the front.

"What the hell were you thinking, Murph? Leaving without so much as a note and taking her with you? Wandering outside at this time of night? Getting shitfaced in a random bar in a town you know nothing about! What the fuck made you think that was a good idea?"

"I'm fucking warning you, Conn. Ringo might let you talk to her like she's five, but that shit doesn't work with me! Now back the fuck off and drive."

Ringo mumbled incoherently from the backseat, but it sounded something like, "Connor's the goddamn fun police."

"I don't want to hear you speak another word." Connor hissed, twisting his neck to glare at Ringo. The rest of the ride was silent, because as far as Ringo was convinced, resistance was futile. Once the trio pulled back into the driveway of the cottage, Connor slammed the door and stalked into the house, leaving Murphy to deal with the lady in the backseat. He smiled at her sweetly before gently removing her from the car.

"He's really mad, isn't he?" she questioned quietly. Murphy grunted, all but dragging her into the cottage. "I've accepted it Murph. He's always going to be a fucking rain over my parade."

"He's just nervous…" Murphy began softly. It then occurred to Ringo, even in her extremely drunk state, that no matter what Connor said or did, Murphy would always stand up for his brother after his initial anger had subsided. This made the blond girl smile up at the man helping her to her room. Murphy was the best kind of person, as far as Ringo was concerned. The kisses they shared earlier in the day swarmed back into her memory and she became painfully aware of the hand that was around her waist, steadying her as the two stood in the middle of the bedroom. "Alright there, Ringo?" he questioned leaning down to look into her eyes. Ringo wrapped her free around Murphy's next where it joined her other one.

"'m fine, Murph. A shower sounds nice."

Murphy huffed a bit before clumsily picking Ringo up and carrying her into the small bathroom that was adjacent to her bedroom. Ringo giggled and nuzzled her face into his neck, inhaling his scent. Never in her life had Ringo been so goddamn cuddly with a man and even in her drunken stupor, she realized how incredibly goddamn stupid she was being. Murphy dropped her to her feet against a wall for support and moved around her to turn the water on, waiting until it was warm enough before withdrawing his hand and wiping it on his jeans.

"I trust you can handle the rest." Murphy stated, raising his eyebrows at her and smirking.

'I dunno, Murph. I might need some help…" she tried, the sobering part of her brain screaming at her for being so forward. This was just fucking pathetic, but just like when she was underneath him earlier, she couldn't seem to make herself stop talking. The darker haired brother's eyes turned dark, darker than she'd ever seen them. He considered her from a distance for a moment obviously fighting a battle inside his intoxicated mind. "Forget it Murph, 'm sorry. Fucking pathetic, Carson."

Murphy chuckled before leaving the bathroom and walking up the stairs. As Ringo heard his footsteps she threw her face into her hands and groaned loudly. It seemed that no matter what she did, she was destined to make a fool out of herself and fuck things up with each brother. She was in the process of removing her boots and beginning to unbutton her cargo pants when she heard steps coming back down the stairs. She shrugged it off, figuring it was one of the twins coming down to grab something from the kitchen. The door to the bathroom opened slowly and Ringo quickly turned, steadying herself by grabbing the sink. Murphy slipped inside the door, giving the girl a smirk.

"Had to make sure Connor was asleep." He stated simply before pulling his black t-shirt off and closing the distance between them.


	10. Chapter 10

**WARNING: well, not so much a warning as it is something I'm sure no one really minds. Never written a smut scene in my entire life, but if I was about to have sex with Norman Reedus, I'm pretty sure this is how I'd like it to go. Pretty sure the plot of my story is the furthest thing from my mind during this chapter. Who the fuck cares about an assassination when Murphy MacManus is fucking your brains out? No one? Thought so….**

Ringo's eyes widened as she watched Murphy close the gap between their bodies. She didn't have time to even get a coherent thought across before his lips were covering hers, kissing her as if he'd never get the chance to again. Murphy's hands quickly found their way into Ringo's hair as he pulled her mouth tighter against his. His tongue parted her lips easily and soon tongues were fighting for domination as they had done earlier. A low groan escaped the twin's throat as the blond girl grabbed his waist and slammed her hips to his, reeling from the feeling of Murphy's bare skin. He pulled back to once again look into her eyes, his dark expression warning her that if she wanted to stop, she had damn well do it now because in about five seconds, he was going to take her whether she liked it or not.

"Murph." Ringo breathed, moving her hands to the sides of his face, her facial expression matching his desire exactly. She nodded vehemently and crashed her lips to his, giving Murphy all of the permission in the world to do with her what he wished. He smiled in a way that could only be described as predatory when she pulled back to catch a breath.

"Ringo, the things I'm going to do to you-" he began, not able to finish before his eyes flashed brighter blue and he slammed her into the wall. Ringo hissed at the pain shooting through her shoulders, but bit her lip and threw her head back as the Irishman attacked her neck with bites and chaste kisses. His hips bucked against hers as he held her arms high above her head with one hand and all but ripped her black t-shirt off of her smaller frame. Another growl from Murphy surfaced as he pawed at her bra before finally removing the offending garment. Ringo's head was once again thrown back as Murphy abandoned the biting and kissing of her neck for the soft skin of her breasts. He swirled his tongue slowly around an erect nipple before biting down gently, gaining him a half moan half whine from Ringo.

Both her wrists still held tightly above her head by one of Murphy's much larger hands, Ringo could only pant helplessly as his free hand finished unzipping her cargo pants. He returned his eyes to hers and quickly moved his mouth to her ear before growling and nipping at it.

"Move your hands, and you'll regret it." Murphy hissed before removing his hand that had previously been holding her wrists. He then continued removing her pants, pulling them off before doing the same with her last remaining undergarment. Ringo whimpered at the fact that she was unable to touch him, especially because he still wore his jeans and boxers and she was completely naked in front of him. Murphy let out a dark laugh at this and stepped back to remove the rest of his clothing, his eyes daring her to move her arms. "Don't do it, lass. Patience is a virtue, you know."

"Fuck Murph, we both know that virtue is not my strong suit." Ringo barked, throwing her head back again in frustration. Her eyes returned to his sleek frame, moving downwards as he finally freed himself of the restriction of fabric. The girl bit her lip and moaned in appreciation at the size of the appendage that would be inside of her soon enough. Murphy smirked at her approving stare and stepped closer to her so that his throbbing erection was pressed to her stomach, earning him another moan. He ran his hands up her arms, leaning his forehead onto hers, finally interlocking his fingers with her much smaller ones. Ringo thought it completely unfair that her chest was burning from lack of ability to breathe correctly, while the twin's breathing was calm and slow. Another whimper from the lady was met with a quick kiss before Murphy allowed her to lower her arms around his neck. His strong arms reached for her waist as he once again slammed her into the wall.

"Fuckin' hell." He growled as he finally lost his patience and pulled her from the wall, pushing the lady towards the shower. Ringo stumbled in and instantly found that Murphy was once again grabbing her wrists and pinning them on either side of her head, steadying her against the wall of the shower. The scolding hot water poured on top of them, only magnifying the heat that rose between their slick bodies. Murphy moved her hair to one side before licking and kissing the back of her neck and shoulders. Unsatisfied with the position she found herself in, Ringo growled before ripping her wrists from the man's grasp and turning quickly to crush her lips to his again, biting down on his bottom lip none to gently. Murphy didn't seem to mind, though and his hands slid up and down her waist before he finally brought one to her hot center. He moved his thumb in circles around her most sensitive of spots before roughly thrusting two fingers into her, causing Ringo to arch her back against the cool tile.

"Shitfuckdamn." She all but screamed as he began thrusting his fingers in and out of her quickly and probably as hard as he could. Murphy smirked against her mouth, alternating his finger thrusts with the rubbing of his thumb. Ringo's hips bucked violently as her eyes shut tightly. There was no stifling the moans that erupted out of her throat and the Irishman seemed to only increase his speed until Ringo's insides tightened around his fingers and her body went rigid as an orgasm racked her body. By this time, Murphy's breath was also labored as he removed his hand and brought both hands to her face. He stared into her eyes, the darkness in his still very much visible. Ringo shivered as he body became aware that the water had run cold.

"Fuck." Murphy groaned as he easily lifted Ringo off of the ground. Her legs were much to shaky for her to even think about standing. "Wrap your legs around my waist, love." the twin commanded her gently. Ringo did as she was told and Murphy held her against the wall and used one hand to quickly shut off the water. He held her tightly to his body before stepping out of the shower. His grasp remained strong as he quietly opened the door to the bathroom and carried her to the bed in her room around the corner. After entering he made sure the door was closed and then laid Ringo onto the bed. She blushed as he stood and his eyes roamed over her body, laid out and still panting for him.

"Murphy, _please_!" she begged, suddenly uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze.

"Please what, Ringo?" he asked, eyes once again darkening to a hungry glare.

"Touch me, fuck me, kiss me even!"

"Ya know, girl, I could really get used to you begging me like that." His voice dripped with menace.

Murphy was certainly not the "take charge" twin. But he seemed to enjoy his authority over Ringo in that moment. He may not have been the brother with the "plan" in most situations, but Ringo could tell that he certainly had a plan for her on this fateful night. Ringo braced herself for the hardest fucking of her life, but suddenly the darkness in Murphy's eyes vanished and his ice blue eyes softened. He smiled down at her as he had when getting her out of the car, and he gently moved his body on top of hers. Ringo grinned as he slowly kissed a trail up her chest, over her neck and finally to her parted lips that were swollen from his earlier roughness.

"I'm going to make it fucking last." He promised her. "I want to take my time with you, Ringo."

All Ringo could do was nod as Murphy bent his head to once again cover her lips with his. Her hands found their way to cup his face as he pulled away. The look in his eyes was one that took her breath away. Murphy nudged her legs apart with his knee, adjusting himself over her. In one quick thrust, he buried himself inside of her, moaning loudly. Ringo's back arched off of the bed, causing her hips to buck against those on top of her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as Murphy began to remove himself, only to firmly thrust into her once more. Ringo's body was on fire and she felt like it was very possible that she would explode from the sheer pleasure that Murphy was giving her.

"Goddamn it Murphy," she moaned, slowly dragging her fingers down his back, "You're so fucking amazing." This seemed to encourage the Irishman to continue, and continue he did. He kept a steady rhythm, trying to go slowly at first. Soon, it became clear that he couldn't handle the slow pace anymore and he began moving in and out of her at a more rapid pace. His lips attached to her neck as he bit down gently to keep himself from crying out. Ringo felt herself come to the brink of another mind numbing orgasm and she quickly moved Murphy's lips to hers as he swallowed her loud cries of ecstasy. She moaned his name over and over as she came, back arching completely off the mattress. Feeling her orgasm pushed Murphy over the edge and his body shuddered as he came with a loud, "FUCK"

Murphy instantly collapsed onto the bed next to Ringo, panting as he ran a hand through his still damp hair. Ringo sighed and tried to catch the breath that had thus far eluded her. Once she had recovered a bit, all she wanted was to be as close as possible to the man who was responsible for her elation. Ringo turned onto her side and placed her hand on Murphy's waist, silently asking him to do the same. He turned to her and placed a sweet kiss to her lips, moving her wet hair from her face.

"Murphy. That was- It was- I've never felt anything like that in my entire life."

"Me either." Murphy answered, his chest still heaving. Ringo smiled at him before rolling over to press her back against him. His arm immediately snaked around her waist as he held her tightly. A kiss was placed to the top of her spine. "Ringo, I don't want to leave you right now."

"But?"

"We both know that if I don't, there will be hell to pay in the morning."

"I know." Ringo stated softly. Connor had been the furthest thing from her mind and she was suddenly angry that he had somehow managed to ruin her cuddle with the man she was completely in awe of. She was suddenly flipped onto her back as Murphy kissed her lips slowly. "I wish you didn't have to. I'd be happy if you never left my bed again."

"Careful what you wish for, lass. I might take you up on that." One more kiss to her lips and he was gone, stopping only to redress in the bathroom before sneaking up the stairs.

"He'd better fucking take me up on it." Ringo mumbled, retrieving her own discarded clothing from the floor of the bathroom. Once all evidence of their night together was concealed, Ringo laid down again, unable to keep the smile from her face and the thoughts of Murphy making love to her out of her mind.


	11. Chapter 11

"You've got to be the stupidest fucking bitch ever created on this Godforsaken earth."

Ringo groaned as the words left Connor's mouth. It wasn't like she didn't know they were coming. In fact, she'd spent almost an hour inside her room bracing herself for the coming storm. Of course she was hoping that the storm would simply pass over, threatening, but never opening the floodgates. But alas, the weatherman was right and it was going to be a cloudburst. Except this time, Ringo had an umbrella. And rain boots. And if that failed, well she'd just get fucking drenched.

There was no way she was going to let Connor MacManus ruin what was happening between herself and Murphy. No fucking way.

"Morning, Connor." She offered with a smile. Act nice, Ringo, until he crosses a line. You know what the line is. When he straddles it, fuck him up.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, his trademark glare, the one he reserved only for Ringo, back with a vengeance.

"You said it pretty damn loud. Almost shouted it. Last I heard, I'm not deaf." Ringo chuckled to herself at the pun, which was completely unintended. Completely. Well, maybe.

"Don't act like you don't fuckin' know what I'm talking about Ri-"

"Connor, you need to be a little specific with me here. You see, as far as I know this could just be a new low for you. It's probable that it's just the next in a long line of insults that you deem appropriate to shout at me." Ringo said evenly. The lady was proud of herself.

"He's my fuckin' brother! You think I don't know when he's gone and fucked somebody?" Connor unleashed his wrath. The clouds opened, and if Ringo wasn't quick enough, he would drown her. "I can see it on his goddamn face! I can hear it in his voice!"

"See, that's what I mean about being more specific. If you'd just started this lovely conversation with the words, 'Ringo, I know you fucked Murph' we might have been able to skip a few moments and get to the matter at hand." Voice still even, Ringo pushed past Connor gently to obtain some of the coffee on the counter. Finding a mug that she deemed clean enough to use, she began the task of pouring a cup for her morning ritual of coffee and cigarettes.

"Well," Connor seemed to be at a loss of words in that moment. This was something else that made Ringo proud of herself. "You don't deny it then?"

"Of course not, Connor. Why would I do that? You think I'm ashamed that I slept with Murphy? God, no."

"I fucking knew we should have left you in Boston!" The shouting from the Irishman's lungs was deafening in the quietness of the countryside. Ringo felt her blood begin to boil, but remained quiet until Connor finished. "You think you're so goddamn smart, Ringo. Well you're not. If you were, you'd realize that what you did only served to distract Murphy. If he doesn't have his head about him tomorrow and he gets fucking killed, that's on you! That's all you are! You might as well be working for the other side, Carson. Because you're doing everything in your power to get my brother killed." The man finished his roar by pointing his finger at Ringo.

This was the line that Ringo knew Connor would cross sooner or later. She was hoping it was sooner, because the confidence that she once held when stepping into the kitchen was quickly fading with every slicing word Connor spoke. Her heart was bleeding out quickly.

Then, Connor went and said the stupidest thing he could have said.

"Should've been taken care of the night the rest of your family was."

Rage. That was all Ringo knew in that moment. She knew Connor would play dirty, but this was rock bottom for him. This was rock bottom for anyone. There was a ringing in Ringo's ears as she slowly turned her body to face the lighter haired twin. She faintly heard Murphy utter a strangled "shit" from the bottom of the stairs. She raised her head and looked past Connor into Murphy's eyes, silently asking him a question. Murphy understood and nodded slightly. In an instant, he stalked up to Connor, quickly grabbing his brother's arms and holding him tight against his chest.

Ringo screamed wildly before taking two long strides at Connor. He was cursing and struggling against Murphy, but Murphy remained silent and held him tighter. Two seconds later, Ringo's fist collided with Connor's jaw. Another fist slammed into his stomach. After successfully knocking the wind out of him, Ringo stepped back as Murphy let Connor fall from his arms. The twin doubled over onto the floor. Murphy stepped away, nodded at Ringo before walking out the door.

Oh, but she wasn't done. If Connor wanted to draw blood, she sure as hell wouldn't disappoint.

He was rolling on the floor and Ringo took the opportunity to serve him a few swift kicks to the ribs. Not hard enough to break them, but hard enough to get her point across. As she had in Boston, the night in the yard, she straddled the MacManus. She knew she couldn't let herself get too carried away in this moment, or she wouldn't be able to stop. Two more hits. She decided that was all she would allow herself.

One. This one split his lip.

Two. This one opened it more, blood sliding down his jaw. Ringo finally stopped screaming and looked into Connor's eyes. He opened them, flinching when her hand came to his face one more time. Only this time, she had no malice in her blue orbs. She softened and wiped the blood from his cheek gently. Connor tensed and resisted her touch, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He was still trying to get his breath back and the pain in his ribs prohibited him from throwing the small girl off of him. Ringo didn't move from her position on top of him. She brought another hand to the other side of his face and held him there, forcing him to gaze back at her.

"Oh, Connor." She whispered, wiping more blood away from his bottom lip. Her eyes were clouded with tears and she made no move to hide the tracks of her tears that marred her pale skin. "Please say you didn't mean it." Ringo was begging now, and she knew it. Connor opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The situation had overwhelmed him. Never in his life had a woman successfully beat him to the floor. And Ringo didn't even try a cheap shot to his family jewels.

"Just a nod- anything, Connor. Please, Connor." More tears. Every blink of her eyes sent more cascading down her face. Something had changed between the two in that moment. The man below her sighed and brought his arms around her waist. He then pulled on her slightly and she obliged his wishes and removed one knee from his side and knelt beside him instead. He raised himself to a sitting position with a shaky arm and brought the other to the back of her head slowly, letting her know he meant no harm. Connor pulled her face towards him, bringing his lips to her ear.

"Ringo, I'm so sorry." He whispered to her, his voice as weak. He then placed a bloody kiss to her cheek, using his thumb to wipe off his blood when he'd removed his lips from her face. Ringo nodded and stood up. With one more glance at the Irishman on the floor, she turned and walked outside to find the other brother. He stood right outside of the door, smoking a cigarette. The lady understood why he couldn't watch what she'd just done to his brother, no matter how much he deserved it.

"You finish with him, then?" Murphy asked quietly, glancing at her.

"I did." She assured. "He'll be fine."

"Aye, I know. Fucker deserved it."

"Murph- what Connor said about you being distracted-"

"No, Ringo. Don't go there. He's full of shit and you know it. He's just jealous. Bastard hasn't gotten laid in forever."

"I just don't want anything to happen to yo-"

"Ringo."

"Knowing it would be my fau-"

"Ringo."

"Or something happening to Connor because you weren't th-"

"RINGO!" Murphy shouted. Ringo shut her mouth quickly. Murphy never yelled. "Shut up."

"Okay." She mumbled, lighting her cigarette. Goddamned tears were falling again. Ringo had never in her whole damn life been so weak. She hated that these Irish bastards took everything ounce of her strength. Murphy looked at her thoughtfully, tossing his cigarette onto the ground. He grabbed her wrist gently, using his other hand to pluck the cigarette from her mouth. Murphy held it between his fingers and covered her mouth with his, kissing her slowly. The hand on her wrist moved into her hair, tugging her head back gently, giving him better access to her parted lips. He backed away slightly, and took a drag from Ringo's cigarette before placing it back to its rightful place between her lips.

"Murph." Ringo moaned. She didn't understand how he did it, but every movement he made, every look he gave her, seemed to shout the phrase, 'Fuck me.' He smirked at her, knowing the effect he had on the girl. He loved it. Motherfucker enjoyed making her melt. Goddamn Irish bastard. After successfully making her want nothing but to be underneath him again, he trotted off, back into the house. Probably to check on his brother. Ringo didn't care. She'd get him back later.

A throat clear from the door way alerted Ringo that Connor was near. The girl glanced up and motioned for him to come outside and join her. Ringo suddenly remembered the peace offering that she had purchased in the grocery the night before. She stuffed her hand into her pocked, ripping the pack of cigarettes out with a small smile. She tossed them to Connor along with her lighter. He grinned, lip beginning to swell.

"I see it stopped bleeding."

"Aye. Wasn't too bad."

"Connor, I-"

"Ringo."

The girl huffed loudly before shutting her mouth again. The MacManus twins seemed to enjoy interrupting her.

"Whaaaat?" she groaned.

"What I said inside, it's the farthest thing from the truth. Murph's a big boy. He can take care of himself. And about your family-"

Silence. He was choosing his words carefully for the first time since he'd met the Russian girl.

"Yes, Connor?"

"I deserve to be killed for that statement."

"No, you don't. You just deserve to get the shit beat out of you, which I did. So it's over. I'll try my hardest to forget you said it."

"We both know you'll never forget it. It's something that I can't take back, as much as I'd like to try."

Ringo knew he was right. She would never be able to get the image of him, all but telling her he wished she was dead, out of her memory. Before she knew what was happening, she was speaking again.

"Well, you might just have to spend the rest of your pathetic life making it up to me."

"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked, a smile gracing his bruised face. Connor was baiting her, and she knew it. Fuck it. She could either play this little game or ignore his statement and go back inside. Her decision was made quickly.

"Well, every time I start to think about what you said, I'll let you know and you can come up with some way to make me forget it for a moment." Dangerous territory was upon her and Ringo knew it. She thought it comical that it took Connor cutting her heart out of her chest, and her beating him to the ground for their relationship to finally change. Fucking finally.

"And how shall I accomplish that, lass?"

"You'll come up with something, I'm sure. Words never seem to escape you."

"I think it'd be better if I made words escape you, no doubt like Murph did."

Ringo choked on the smoke in her throat at his statement. She looked up at it and saw the darkness in his eyes. It was times like this where it was painfully obvious that Connor and Murphy were twins. Their eyes gave them away every time. He smirked at her and tore into his pack of cigarettes. He knew what his words meant, what they promised.

"You're fucking bi-polar, you know that?"

Mental whiplash. Ringo's neck was starting to hurt.

"I'm complicated."

Ringo rolled her eyes, taking the last drag from the cigarette. She mumbled an exasperated 'fuck me' and her head shot up, eyes widening a bit at the realization of the expression she'd just offered.

"Only if Murph says it's okay."

It was a joke, but the look in Connor's eyes told Ringo a different story. His eyes held no mirth, no laughter.

"Come on you two! We need a fucking plan of attack for tomorrow!" Murphy shouted from inside the house. Ringo was worried he'd heard the exchange that she had with his brother. His next statement told her everything she needed to know. "You can mentally fuck each other later. Shit, you can physically fuck each other later. We need a goddamn plan!"

So this was how it was going to be. Ringo gulped and hung her head, following Connor inside. The bastard was laughing the whole way.

**Ah, yes. Because Murphy can't have all of the fun, now can he? Also because I don't want anyone to think I hate Connor. I love the bloke to death. Thirdly, because we all know there isn't a single good reason why brothers can't share things. It's only fair. **


	12. Chapter 12

**NOTE: Ah, finally. A little bit of Ringo/Connor lovin'. Not too much, because we all know Connor can keep himself in check much better than his brother can. Also, more Murphy/Ringo cuteness, because they complement each other so well. Meant to be, those two. Review please! It makes me pound out chapters quicker. Promise!**

The three would be political assassins sat at the small kitchen table, the manila folder from Smecker sitting between then, taunting.

"This is some heavy shit." Ringo muttered, shuffling some papers around, trying to make sense of it all.

"You sound like Rome." Murphy mumbled back. He was visibly uncertain. The contents of the folder did not help his confidence level. Connor, being the only one who had read everything in the folder on the plane, glanced between his brother and the blond girl,

"It's really not that bad-" he began. He stopped after seeing the looks Murphy and Ringo were giving him. "Perhaps it is."

"This is going to be a fucking disaster." Ringo moaned. Murphy was getting twitchy next to her, confirming the fact that the three had been sitting at the table far too long. He chewed on his thumb nail nervously, his eyes shifting between Connor and Ringo. "We've been sitting here for almost two hours and we aren't any closer to figuring out what we're going to do."

"Aye, Ringo's right Connor. You don't even have a 'genius plan.'"

"I've got a few ideas!" Connor protested. When Ringo and Murphy both rolled their eyes, he gave up.

"We already decided that we're not pulling any movie shit, Conn." Murphy huffed.

"It's too risky to attempt anything at his office…too many people around." Ringo started.

"Fuck, I'm not going into another house fucking blind." Connor began.

"Where the fuck else are we supposed to find him?" Murphy argued.

"Fucking DISASTER."

"Ringo."

"This isn't my shit, guys. I don't do this. This is waaaay above my head-"

"Ringo."

"Right. Sorry." Ringo stood from the table and began to pace around the living room. Murphy's eyes followed her every step while he devoured the rest of his finger nails. Connor mumbled something about needing more information, which they obviously didn't have. Ringo knew that Smecker couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't expect them to pull this off without properly preparing them. If he expected the boys to kill Jarvis Whittaker and get out alive, something had to give.

Day turned to night as the three still had nothing to work with. It was getting late when a knock at the door startled Connor, Ringo and Murphy out of their daze.

"Who the fuck-"

"Shh, Ringo. Quiet!" Connor commanded. He stood and pulled a gun from his holster. Ringo and Murphy stood and Ringo made to go towards the door, but Connor put an arm out to stop her. He didn't even look at her as she was pushed behind him. He glanced at Murphy who nodded and pulled out his own gun. He too pushed Ringo behind him and she realized the reason she was being pushed around was because her gun was in her bedroom. The girl suddenly felt afraid. There was no telling who was behind that door and Ringo hadn't quite prepared herself for a gunfight just yet.

Connor threw open the door and Ringo exhaled the breath she was holding as she realized who their unannounced guest was.

"Boys! Guns down please." Smecker asked, pushing past Connor and into the cottage. The twins replaced the guns to their holsters and looked at Smecker expectantly. "You three didn't think I'd send you in there with just your good intentions did you?"

"Aye, we'd hoped not." Murphy offered.

"I brought you some more information. Eunice should have given it to you, but she forgot it."

"She's slipping, Smeck. Maybe it's time to put your faithful lap dog down." Ringo muttered from across the room. Murphy turned to look at her, but Connor ignored her statement, taking the roll of paper from Smecker.

"Now, now, Ringo. Don't start. You're both pretty." At this Ringo rolled her eyes and huffed, stealing the cigarette that Murphy always kept behind his ear. Murphy tried to smack her hand away, but she was too quick. She captured it with a triumphant grin and put it to her lips.

"Need this?" Murphy asked, shaking his lighter in front of her. Ringo patted her pockets, realizing she in fact, did need his lighter. He held it high above her head and made her jump for it, but her attempts were futile. Murphy stuck his tongue out at her and kept the lighter just out of her reach. Ringo glared and looked around the room to locate her own device.

"Here, Ringo." Connor called softly, taking his attention away from Smecker for a moment to toss her his lighter. She smiled at him, but he simply turned back to Smecker. Murphy glared at his brother for ruining his fun.

"Ringo, if you and Murphy would like pay attention, " Smecker chastised, "you'll notice that Connor is holding blue prints to Jarvis Whittaker's home in downtown London. I don't think I need to explain why said documents are important."

"Where the fuck was this five hours ago when I was pounding my head the goddamn wall?" Ringo demanded. Smecker dismissed her with a roll of his eyes.

"I've scouted this out, boys. All you need to worry about is the security system, but because I'm so wonderful, I've even provided you with that. Good news Ringo, all you have to do is drive."

"Paul, exactly how did you get all of this?" Ringo questioned with a smirk.

"Whittaker's home is historic, so the blue prints are public domain." He replied, glancing at her.

"And the security codes?" she pressed. Murphy and Connor looked thoughtful for a moment, before tilting their heads awaiting Smecker's reply.

"That's not important."

"Paul, you tart! You slept with the enemy!" Ringo shouted, laughing.

"I did no such thing, Miss Carson. That I can assure you. Whittaker is married." Smecker thought this would suffice, but Ringo wasn't letting it die that easily.

"Fuck! You seduced his wife! How was that for you, Paul? I'm sure it's been a while since you've had to deal with-"

"Ringo, shut the fuck up." Connor didn't want to hear the rest. Smecker rolled his eyes and made to leave the cottage, nodding to both brothers.

"Why the hell do you always do this, Smecker! Show up for five minutes and then disappear for a week?" Ringo growled at him. She didn't appreciate his coming and going, especially when he left her to deal with such a volatile situation.

"You'll get over it, Ringo. Here, this is the address I want you to bring the boys to after the job is done."

"We're not coming back here?" Murphy asked.

"Too risky. Plus, this is just the beginning. No time to waste. Lots of killing to do."

"Do you make sense? Ever?" Ringo shouted to Smecker's retreating form.

* * *

Ringo sat cross-legged on the couch, a bottle of whiskey between her small hands. The girl took a drink and cringed as the liquid burned the whole way down her throat. The boys were somewhere, doing something. She really didn't give a fuck. By this time it had become clear to the girl that worrying about the MacManus brothers was about as useless as trying to pick your favorite of the two. Her gun laid next to her on the couch, 'just in case' as Connor had put it. Ringo sighed and took another swig of the whiskey, finding that the more she drank, the less it burned. The front door burst open and the boys trampled in, laughing. They stopped when they saw the barrel of Ringo's gun pointed at them.

"Ever heard of knocking, dickheads?" she roared, lowering her gun. Murphy smirked at her and walked over to grab the gun out of her hands. He checked the chamber and rolled his eyes, tossing it to his brother.

"Not even loaded. What the fuck were you gonna do, Ringy?" Murphy asked, ripping the bottle of whisky from her hands, ignoring her whine of protest.

"Throw it at your fucking face." She muttered, grabbing for the bottle. Murphy held it out of her grasp and handed it to Connor. Ringo knew she wasn't going to get the whiskey back, so she got up and walked towards her room, pulling her jacket off as she went. "I'm going to bed."

Murphy mumbled a goodnight in her general direction and lit a cigarette. Connor watched her retreating figure disappear into the dark room. He looked at his brother who nodded to him and smirked before offering a 'go for it, my dear brother.' Connor tossed the whiskey back to his brother and followed after Ringo. Once inside the room, he closed the door and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Ringo was under the blanket, facing the wall. She opened her eyes at the sound of the door closing, but couldn't bring herself to turn over just yet. Ringo was exhausted. It didn't help that Murphy had kept her up the night before, but the gravity of the situation she was about to place herself in had hit her while the twins were out. Sure, worrying about it didn't help, because there was no convincing them not to do it. Ringo felt the bed sink under the weight of the man, and instantly she knew it was Connor.

"Help you, Connor?"

"How'd you know it was me?" he laughed.

"Magic." She offered sadly. Connor noticed the lack of emotion in her voice and sighed. He ran a hand over his face and struggled for the words to say.

"Murph and I talked it over. We've got a pretty good plan."

"You gonna enlighten me, Conn?"

"You really want to know?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Look, I promise we'll be o-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You'll be fucking fine. I've resigned myself to the fact that worrying about you two is a waste of time."

"Then why're you so sad?" his voice was softer than it had ever been while speaking to her.

"Because it doesn't change the fact that I can't help but to worry."

"Ringo."

"You know, you and your brother both do that! You say my name as if I'm supposed to be able to fucking understand your goddamn mind by just hearing my name. Well I can't, Connor. I don't have the fucking twin telepathy. You're going to have to spell it out for me!" It came out a little bit harsher than Ringo had intended, but once again, the girl didn't give a fuck.

"Look at me, Ringo."

"No."

"Stop being a child for five fuckin' minutes and look at me!"

Ringo rolled over and even in the darkness she could see Connor's face. He was glaring at her, but not like he usually did. He was worried about her. She could tell he didn't trust that she was able to keep it together. He lifted a hand and rested it on the side of her face, sighing deeply.

"I'm looking at you Connor, now speak or get the fuck out so I can sleep."

"Enough talk." Connor mumbled, pushing her a bit so that he could lie down next to her. He had removed his pea coat and threw it on her floor when he came in and Ringo knew he'd get cold soon enough. She held the blanket up so that he could get underneath it.

"Connor-"

"I said, enough. Now get some rest. Tomorrow is a big fucking day."

"Whatev-" she tried. Connor was obviously tired of asking her to be quiet, so he placed his hand over her mouth. When she finally stopped mumbling, he kissed the back of his hand and removed it. "Pussy."

"What was that, Ringo?"

"You heard me."

"Right."

"Guess Murph didn't say it was okay." Ringo thought. Or at least, she thought she had only thought it. Connor's hand on the back of her neck proved to her that she had actually said it out loud.

"Ringo…"

"Fuck this shit." Ringo whispered. Then the girl pulled Connor's face to hers and kissed him gently; apprehensive and ready to recoil at the slightest hesitation from the Irishman. Connor stiffened for a moment and Ringo made to pull away from him and crawl into a hole and die. Before she could, Connor relaxed into her, his hand tightening its grip on her neck. He tasted altogether different than Murphy, but the same cigarette and whiskey taste remained. Connor pulled away from Ringo and kissed her forehead gently, smiling against her skin. He then pulled her closer to him and whispered into her ear.

"Sleep now."


	13. Chapter 13

**Probably my favorite chapter yet. Mostly because I'm a sucker for mental madness followed by sex. Nothin' cures a panic attack better than well...you'll see. I really appreciate the reviews! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. **

Morning came too soon. Ringo wasn't ready to face this day. She wasn't ready to sit idle why the only two people she cared about in the entire world trotted off, toting guns and prayers. She didn't understand why the MacManus brothers affected her the way they did. They took every ounce of her strength on a daily basis. They ripped her to pieces and then put her back together again in one swift motion. They exhausted her. They made her feel alive. They killed her. They brought her to the brink of madness, and then promptly pulled her back into their arms. It was the most exhausting experience of her entire life. Ringo wouldn't have it any other way. The realization of exactly how strong her feelings for the boys were scared her even more than watching her family die did. Never in her entire life had Ringo loved someone so much. She always thought that there was one person, just one, in the entire cosmos that you were supposed to love this much and here she lay, in love with two brothers. Never willing to pick the one she'd stick her neck out for more eagerly. Never in her 26 years on the planet Earth had she been willing to die for someone, and now, she would gladly perish if it meant that the two Irishmen lived another day.

When this all hit her, every fiber of her being shook so hard she was positive that the whole world could feel it. Her breath wouldn't come; she had to beg her lungs to release it. Her brain wouldn't focus, no matter how tight she shut her eyes. Everything that she had ever been, or thought she was, or wanted to be was erased. Nothing else mattered in this moment; this quiet before the storm. She knew that tonight could take from her everything she loved, wanted, needed. Her eyes opened wide as she struggled to breath and she gasped, grabbing the sheets in a frantic motion, trying to hold on to anything while everything was crashing around her.

Her wild movements woke the lighter haired twin who shared her bed the night before. He sat up quickly, trying and failing, to calm her. He had never seen her lose control in such a way and it frightened him. He was not in control of this moment, but the worst part was, neither was Ringo. There was no control and it seemed as if there never would be ever again. He had seen her have a panic attack before, but not so severe. The last time she had almost collapsed against him, crying silently. But this time…this time she couldn't make a sound. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, her back arched off the bed. Connor couldn't take this. He couldn't watch her die in front of him. He moved himself on top of the girl and forced her hands above her head where he gripped his fingers around hers. Connor placed a little bit of his weight onto Ringo, forcing her to lay flat on the bed. He found her eyes with his, pleading with them to blink. He brought his mouth to her ear and softly whispered in a language he hoped would calm her.

"Ринго, дыхание на меня, пожалуйста. Ничто не может причинить вам вред.Я не позволю это. Дыхание. Дыхание красивая девушка."

At the sound of Connor's voice, Ringo's breath shot from her lungs and she gasped for it, as if she was afraid it would escape her again. Her eyes closed slowly and her body relaxed. Maybe it was the sound of Connor's voice, maybe it was the fact that he'd spoken to her in the one language that reminded her of things she had once held so dear. Maybe it was the combination. Even though she was breathing now, and her hands had loosened the death grip she had on Connor's, she still panted loudly for almost five minutes. Connor never moved from his position on top of her. He was still whispering to her and placing small, slow kisses all over her face.

"вот именно, красивая девушка, дышать. просто держать дыхание." Connor mumbled.

"Коннор, пожалуйста, не оставляй меня. Ты мне нужен. Я не могу потерять тебя. Пожалуйста, не ходите." Ringo breathed into Connor's ear, begging him with all she had left.

"Вы никогда не потеряете меня, дорогая. Я никуда не пойду." Connor whispered back, placing a kiss to the still shaking girl's temple. He then kissed his way down the side of her face until he hovered over her lips. Connor wasn't sure she was ready for this yet as she was still panting. Connor MacManus was nothing if not a gentleman. Pushing the frail, shaking girl too far in this moment would be cruel. However, as she gazed up at him, Ringo knew she couldn't deny Connor what she had already given to his brother. Even in the aftermath of such a panic attack, Ringo felt her body reacting to the heat from the body on top of her. She didn't want to deny Connor. She didn't want to deny herself. No one had ever been able to calm her panic with just words and touches. It always took pills, or tedious minutes of not breathing for her body to return to normal.

It was then that Ringo knew how addicted she had become to the man on top of her. He was a cure to her madness, despite also being the cause. He frustrated her to no end, despite giving her the release she couldn't survive without. He was stubborn, and his pride would surely be his downfall. But he would be Ringo's downfall and she would smile while she fell.

Murphy gave Ringo everything that Connor could not, and in turn, Connor filled the void that Murphy left. There was no one without the other. Ringo didn't understand it at all. It just didn't make sense and she refused to believe it just yet. She refused to believe that these two men could give her everything that she could ever ask of them. They bled her dry, but still kept her alive, while she begged for more blood loss if it meant they would be the ones taking it from her.

"Fuck. I'm not making any sense." Ringo whispered.

Connor looked at her, confused by the statement. Ringo was glad that he couldn't hear the thoughts in her head because she doubted that he could ever feel the same way about her. She didn't even need him to feel the same way. She didn't need Murphy to feel the same way. All she needed was to be here, in this moment, feeling something that had stayed dormant for so long. She could feel. It didn't matter what happened now between the three. They'd brought her back from the brink of self-imposed self-destruction even though she'd never actually admit it to them. She hadn't even realized she was drowning in her own pity until she broke the surface of real life and love. Love. A concept that Ringo believed was dead and gone was quickly reanimating her body, mind, and soul.

"You haven't said anythin' love." Connor said gently. He was trying to understand, but Ringo knew that he never could. Neither Connor, nor Murphy would ever understand what they had done to Ringo Carson- Nadia Azarenka- whoever the fuck she was. It didn't matter anymore.

"Connor."

"What, darling?"

"I need you."

"You mentioned that."

"I need Murph, too."

"I know."

"I've never needed anyone before."

"Everyone needs someone."

"What kills me though, is that neither one of you need me."

"What makes you think that, Ringo?"

"I just know."

"Then you know nothing."

"Connor.'

"Even if it was true that I didn't need you, I'll still want you forever. So will Murph. You've dug your claws into us and we don't plan to rip them out, ever."

"But claws are painful."

"We like the pain."

"You should get me de-clawed."

"Never."

"What happens now?"

"I'm going to fuck you." At this, Ringo's breath hitched, earning a dark smile from Connor.

"And after that?"

"Then we kill Whittaker."

"And if you make it out alive?"

"_**When**_ we make it out alive, I'll fuck you again."

"Jesus Christ."

"The name Connor will do just fine, Ringo."

"Bastard."

"Bitch."

"Fuck me, MacManus."

"Since you asked nicely, Carson."

Ringo grinned before raising herself to meet his lips that still hovered an inch above hers. His hands went from their place above her head to tangle in her blond hair. He groaned into her mouth as she raised her hips to meet the erection that was strained against his jeans. Connor's hands left her hair as his body slid down hers. He slowly pushed her t shirt up as he licked and kissed the pale skin of her stomach. His fingers made quick work of the button and zipper of her jeans and he pulled them down, allowing Ringo to kick them the rest of the way off. He smiled when he realized there was an article of her clothing missing underneath her jeans and Ringo blushed when he looked up at her. She threw her head back and groaned under the weight of his gaze.

"Don't be shy, Ringo. I would have just ripped them off anyways." Connor whispered deviously. "Murph said he took it easy on you. I won't be so kind."

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Ringo mumbled, feigning fear.

"Very much so." A bit to the inside of her thigh confirmed the fact that unlike Murphy, Connor was not going to take it as slow. Ringo had always thought that Murphy would be the rougher of the twins, but it seemed that he only enjoyed roughness during foreplay, and then he preferred to be a gentle lover. Connor, however, would never ease up on the roughness or pace that he preferred. Ringo also guessed that he disliked foreplay. Ringo decided that if Connor wanted it rough, she was more than happy to oblige.

"Skip the foreplay, Connor."

"Did I really just hear that?"

"I'm not asking. I'm telling."

"Fuck, Ringo. You know the way to a man's heart."

"If you don't get your fucking jeans off and get inside of me in the next thirty seconds, I'm going to go find your brother and-"

"No." Connor stopped her before she could finish by covering her mouth with his hand, pressing none too gently. "When you're with me, _you're mine_. He doesn't get to touch you until I'm finished. You need to understand that, Ringo. He's had you once. My turn. I don't want you thinking about anyone but me while I'm fucking you."

Ringo shivered at the seriousness in Connor's voice and instantly regretted her threat. She didn't want him to think she would ever choose one over the other.

"I'm sorry, Connor. I didn't mean it. I was just tryin-"

"I know it's not easy, Ringo. Being with both of us. It's something we've never done before, and that's why there have to be rules. Even if Murph doesn't care, I do. I won't have you screaming his name while you're underneath me."

"Connor, I could never-"

"No more talking unless you're saying the words: Connor, fuck, me, harder, faster or more."

"My vocabulary is going to suffer by sleeping with you."

"What did I say, Ringo?"

A warning. The only one Ringo would get and she knew it.

"Connor, fuck me."

"Good girl."

Connor had his jeans off in a matter of about two seconds. He didn't even seem to care that he still wore a shirt, but Ringo wasn't having any of it. She tugged the hemline gently before removing her own shirt. Connor stood still next to the bed watching as she discarded the garment onto the floor. She was completely naked in front of him and once again, she felt nervous under his stare. She glared at him and made to pull the blanket around her to avoid his eyes, but he grabbed it from her hands and used his superior strength to rip it from her roughly. He growled and shook his head 'no' before taking the last of his clothing off.

In a moment, he lowered himself onto Ringo's body, hissing at the feeling of his bare skin touching hers for the first time. Ringo's eyes fluttered closed but snapped opened when she felt Connor raise his body to a kneeling position on the bed between her legs. Before she could protest, Connor roughly flipped her over onto her stomach. Ringo's chest tightened as she realized what was about to happen. The Irishman once again lowered his body to hers and kissed a trail up her spine quickly. He then slid an arm under her hips to raise them slightly. He bit down on Ringo's shoulder blade hard enough to leave a mark before slamming his hips forwards, entering her. Ringo bit her lip to keep from screaming and tasted her own blood. Connor didn't wait for her to recover before he pulled almost completely out and slammed back into her mercilessly. Every time he did, he hit a spot inside of Ringo that made it impossible not to moan his name as loud as she possibly could. Her hands gripped at the sheets until her knuckles were white. Connor was growling her name slowly into Ringo's ear which only served to bring her closer to her peak. He was hitting all of the right spots, lifting and lowering her hips off of the bed as it suited him. He seemed to be able to sense exactly what Ringo needed, wanted.

Ringo knew she'd be sore for days after this encounter with Connor, but it would be a lie for her to claim that she gave a fuck. All she wanted was for Connor to keep slamming himself into her. She moaned something unintelligible, which caused Connor to smirk against her should and whisper darkly into her ear.

"Use your words, Ringo. The ones I'm _letting_ you use." He demanded. Normally, Ringo did not allow a man to have such authority over her because she was stronger than that. She was no one's toy. But with Connor, it was different. Completely different. Ringo loved the control the Irishman took over her. She felt safe enough to give up ever ounce of control and let him take her as he wished. Ringo struggled to remember what she was allowed to say, knowing that if she said the wrong ones, Connor was mean enough to stop, at least for a moment.

"Harder, Connor." She begged. She held her breath, praying it was one he had allowed. Her answer came in the form of the hardest thrust he'd given her yet. She cried out, the pain mingling with pleasure, and was sent immediately over the edge. She came so hard she thought she would pass out. She screamed his name as she rode the waves of her orgasm, every muscle of her body tightening. Connor roughly slammed into her five more times before he too was unable to hold out anymore.

"Goddamn it, Ringo." He growled as his body shook. He could no longer support his weight with his arms. He rolled off of the lady and allowed her to turn her body to face him. Connor laid on his back, gripping his hair as he tried to catch his breath. Ringo wasn't sure what to do in this moment. Connor didn't seem the type to cuddle, like Murphy, but Ringo decided that she didn't care. She was exhausted, even more so than earlier, and Connor was going to hold her whether he liked it or not. Reaching out to find the blanket the twin had ripped from her hands earlier, she grabbed it and it seemed to take the rest of her strength to pull it over their sweating bodies. The cold air of the cottage would surely bring them sickness if they neglected the blanket.

"Hold me." Ringo commanded.

"Yes ma'am." Connor mumbled, turning on his side. He snaked his arm around Ringo's waist and pulled her into him. Ringo buried her head in the crook of Connor's neck and kissed it gently. She sighed in complete and utter contentment and tangled her legs with his. "Rest, Ringo. You'll need your energy back by tonight when Murph and I get through with the job. I wasn't lying about my intentions to fuck you again."

"Fucking hell, Connor."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling." He mocked. If could have seen her face, he would have seen Ringo roll her eyes, but smile nervously as her mind reeled from thinking about what else this man could, and certainly would, do to her.

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS: it's Russian. Translated loosely and probably not correctly.**

**"Ringo, breath for me. Nothing can hurt you. I won't let it. Breathe, beautiful girl."**

**"That's it, beautiful girl, breathe. Just keep breathing."**

**"Connor, please don't leave me. I need you. I can't lose you. Please don't go."**

**"You'll never lose me, darling. I'm not going anywhere."**


	14. Chapter 14

This was not how Ringo Carson liked to prepare for a job. In her New York apartment she had an MP3 player full of music that, for lack of a better phrase, 'set the mood.' Had she known she would be joining the Saints and their fucked up crusade, she might have grabbed it. She didn't have the balcony where she could sit and read, re-read and then, just for good measure and peace of mind, re-read again. No. She had none of these things. What was she left with? She was left to sit on the edge of her bed and stare at her shoes. Her mind was clouded, her judgment not as sharp as the occasion called for. These men were a problem. She remembered her one rule of the game she played so well: "Never, ever, ever get involved with an accomplice. Don't even fucking have a cup of tea with them. Get in, do the job, get the fuck out quick and part ways."

And then Ringo realized how quickly she'd abandoned her rules for these two Irishmen. Ridiculous. Pathetic. Girly. The internal insults kept coming and Ringo fought to keep tears from fleeing from their place in her eyes. Ringo figured, no. Ringo knew that if something happened to one of the boys, she'd be done for. While she sensed a quiet confidence in each brother in these hours before the Whittaker job, she felt no confidence whatsoever. In fact, she'd never been so unsure of herself since the night she'd fled from her home in Boston when she was sixteen. Ringo knew that the MacManus brothers had too much on their minds to even begin to deal with the mirage of doubts the girl was experiencing. Once she could no longer bare to be alone with her thoughts, Ringo quietly padded out of her room and into the kitchen where the boys sat talking quietly. Connor looked up at her and offered a small smile when he heard her enter. Murphy kept his head down and Ringo was sure that he was able to read her thoughts. He knew how scared she was and the sad fact of the matter was that he didn't have an answer for her. He couldn't make her a promise that he'd come back in once piece.

The boys' guns lay on the table amongst bullets and harnesses and underneath it all were the blueprints of the Whittaker's London home. Ringo glanced at all of this, desperately searching for something to occupy her shaking hands. Anything. Her eyes locked on the guns and she'd found something. She approached the table quickly and sat in the open chair. Connor was holding one of his guns and Ringo reached for it, her hand still shaking. This did not go unnoticed by Murphy. Connor raised an eyebrow at her and drew back a bit.

"Give me the goddamn gun, Connor." Ringo demanded gruffly. She was in no mood to play keep away.

"Why?"

"Because I need to check it. I need to check them all. Make sure they're clean and ready to-"

"Ringo, really? You don't think we're capab-" Connor started.

"Give her the fucking gun!" Murphy shouted. He had raised his head and his eyes were narrowed at his brother. "She needs to check them, Connor. Let her do what she needs to do." With this, Murphy pushed his two guns towards Ringo and nodded to her. Connor rolled his eyes and reluctantly placed the gun into Ringo's much smaller hands. As soon as the cold metal touched her fingers, the shaking in her hands ceased. 'Idle hands…' Ringo thought bitterly. The girl offered a small, mumbled thanks before going through the ritual of checking the gun's chamber to make sure it was clean. This was imperative. If the gun wasn't clean, the bullet couldn't leave the chamber and then, well, there's no reason to have a fucking gun if it won't fire. In all honesty, Ringo knew the guns would be clean. If she knew anything about Connor and Murphy, it was that they never half assed anything. (This was true for both killing and fucking, Ringo realized.) But like Murphy had said, Ringo needed to do this. She knew that she was unable to control anything that went on inside the house. As Smecker had pointed out, she was just the driver during this little escapade. She had to make sure that she could do everything up until the moment the boys entered the home to ensure their absolute safety. The girl checked each gun twice, felling heat rise in her face at the look on Connor's face. He didn't get it. That was fine, Ringo thought, it doesn't matter if he gets it.

"All done." She finally allowed. Connor rolled his eyes once again and snatched the guns from her grasp quickly. Murphy was looking out the window and made no move to pick his up, so Ringo slid them towards him. "Give me your extra clips and I'll help you load them." She offered quietly. Connor sighed, albeit and bit exasperated at her sudden need for control, and all but tossed the clips at her. Ringo ignored him and set about her work, sliding bullets in methodically, counting each one. When she was fifteen, her mother had forced her to see a psychiatrist who had deemed her mentally ill, and one of the disorders he had accused her of was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Ringo had denied and denied this, finally convincing her mother that the doctor simply wanted to make money and was plaguing her with these disorders so that she would keep coming back to his office once a week. In this moment though, Ringo gave a few props to Dr. Johnson. Maybe he knew something that she didn't.

"Murph, clips please?"

"Sure." Murphy slid his extra clips towards her, meeting her eyes. His hand covered hers as she made to grab the clips. He held his hand over hers and gave it a slight squeeze. Ringo knew that Murphy was aware of her anxiety and he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to make it stop. All he could do was show her that he was here, now and in this moment, he cared for her as much as she cared for him. Ringo managed a small smile and Murphy released her hand. Connor watched the exchange between his brother and Ringo with a look of amusement. He and his brother had always shared the same confidence in their calling and their ability ever since the incident at the Copley Plaza, but something told him that Ringo's entrance into their lives had made Murphy more aware of his own mortality and his desire to come back to her. Neither brother had ever been careless with their lives, never not cared if they lived or died, but now…now they had someone who almost depended on them to come home alive and well.

"Lock and load, I suppose." The girl squeaked out, trying to conceal the nervousness that she couldn't seem to shake.

"Atta girl!" Connor roared, laughing.

Several hours later, Ringo settled into the driver's seat of the getaway car and once again tried to steady her nerves. They'd subsided for a few moments a few hours earlier. This was thanks to the fact that Murphy had cornered her in the kitchen and kissed her with a ferocity she had never known. He'd trapped her against the counter and held her face firmly, trying to convey confidence into her with his stare. When that didn't seem to work, he let his lips force her to understand and most importantly, believe. Connor sat on the couch and shook his head with a grin. He was not interested in what his brother chose to do with Ringo and he lit a cigarette and went over the file on Whittaker for the hundredth time.

Ringo smiled at the memory of Murphy's lips crashing into hers before shaking herself back into the present moment. The boys sat in the back seat silently.

"Right then. We should go, yeah?" she asked, feigning enthusiasm.

"Aye." They agreed in unison.

The drive to London was about an hour and a half and by the time the three pulled up to the alley way behind their destination, it was well past two am. Ringo cut the lights when she turned into the alley and pulled up to the curb. She bowed her head and shut her eyes tightly. Her grip on the steering wheel had turned her knuckles white. (Partly due to the task of driving on the opposite side of the road on the opposite side of the car.)

"Ringo-" Connor started.

"Just fucking go. And I swear to God, if one of you gets so much as a scratch, I'll beat the shit out of you." She meant it to be a really scary threat, but her voice broke halfway through and the part about beating came out as a whimper. Murphy smirked and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. Ringo snaked her left hand to the back of his head and held his face against hers for a quick moment. She wanted to turn her head to look at his beautiful eyes, but she knew she'd breakdown if she tried it, so holding him was all that she could do. In an instant he pulled away and quietly shut the door. Connor followed suit and stopped at the driver's side window. He motioned for Ringo to roll it down and she complied. He cupped her cheek gently and forced her to look at him.

"We'll be fine, Ringo. I promise." Ringo wanted to believe him, but they both knew this was something he could never promise her. She appreciated the lie, however. Ringo bit back her tears as Connor placed a small kiss to the corner of her mouth before jogging to catch up with his brother. Ringo rolled the window back up and slumped down in her seat groaning out a quiet, 'fuck.'

In about five minutes, Ringo composed herself, knowing that at any moment, the boys could come running out and she'd have to be ready for a speedy and unnoticed getaway. She kept her eyes on the alley behind and in front of her at all times, her eyes trained to catch the smallest of movements. She was unable, however, to keep her thoughts from running away. She wondered if Jarvis Whittaker had children. She knew he had a wife whom the boys would never harm, but Smecker had never mentioned any children. Ringo realized then that Whittaker probably did have children and Smecker had intentionally 'forgot' to mention it to Ringo. For a split second, a horrifying thought passed through the mind of Ringo Carson. She became a bit angry. Those children would wake up tomorrow knowing that they no longer had a father. No matter how evil Jarvis was, he would always be their father and they would always love him. Hell, they probably didn't even know the evil that their father was involved in. Then Ringo had a flashback to the night that her parents were killed. Hadn't her father been the same type of man that the Saints made their name hunting down? That certainly didn't mean that Ringo loved him any less. If they could have, they probably would have killed him. Ringo knew the pain of losing a parent. She felt a pain in her chest as the memories flooded her mind. She knew what this would do to Whittaker's children and in that moment, all she wanted to do was drive away and have no part of inflicting that kind pain on another human being.

She gasped as the thought came and went and she jolted back to her senses. Leaving Connor and Murphy? The idea had been there, she was sure of it. Ringo hated herself in those seconds. Hated herself for even thinking about leaving the boys. She knew then that this lifestyle would force her choose between causing other people pain and suffering and the two Irishmen who had single handedly turned her life upside down in a couple of weeks. It took her about a second and a half to make her choice and she moved the hand that was on the keys in the steering column. She could never leave Connor and Murphy. She resigned herself to the fact that Whittaker's children might one day understand, even though she knew it was an utter lie.

Five minutes later, Ringo's head snapped to her left as she caught a flash of movement from the back of the Whittaker home. Instinctively, her hand moved to the gun inside her shoulder holster, but she relaxed it when she recognized the two figured that approached the car calmly, at an even pace. Ringo widened her eyes at the easy way the brothers strutted towards the car, smiling at each other. Murphy met her eyes and threw his hands in the air excitedly to signal a job well done. Connor batted his arms down and pointed to the car, albeit with a smile.

"Fuckin' a!" Murphy exclaimed as he threw his body into the back seat. "Felt good!"

"Quiet down, Murph. You want to wake the goddamn neighbors?" Ringo whispered angrily. The boy's carefree attitude at this moment did not thrill the lady. She had no idea of what had gone on and her mind was racing with questions: What had they done with his wife? His children?

"The lady has a point, Murph. Shut the fuck up. You can celebrate later." Connor hissed.

Ringo served an icy glare to each brother before turning the ignition and slowly pulling the car out of the alley way and back onto the main road. Connor and Murphy looked between each other in the backseat, not daring to speak a word to Ringo. Murphy finally decided to be the brave one and quietly spoke from the back.

"Aren't you going to ask how it went?"

"I assume it went splendid, given the fact that you seem so damn happy with yourselves. I'm too on-fucking-edge to ask about his damn wife and kids, and you'd better fucking believe that I'm checking both of you idiots for wounds when we get back to the house. So save it. I already told you, once scratch and you're dead." Ringo angrily pulled a cigarette from the pack in her lap and lit it almost violently. She glanced in the rear view mirror and took note of the shocked looks on Connor and Murphy's faces. Murph looked a little scared and she was sure she saw him glance at his brother with an alarmed look before rubbing his forearm.

"Ringo, " Connor began slowly, "Whittaker's wife and children weren't in the house. We checked every room."

"Yeah, and then we asked Jarvis. He gladly told us that they're in France on holiday. Then we killed the motherfucker." Murphy added.

Ringo exhaled the smoke from her lungs and allowed herself to relax. Soon enough though, those children would learn that they would never see their father again. Ringo shook the thought from her mind as she repeated the Saint's manifesto, "evil men, dead men" over and over again in her head.

Ringo drove carefully back to the English countryside cottage. It certainly wouldn't be a good idea to get pulled over by the police and have to explain the six guns inside of the car and the fact that each of them was in head to toe black attire. The ride home was silent. Neither brother dared to speak another word to Ringo. She still seemed to seethe with something that resembled a cross between anger and relief. Murphy regretted his earlier exuberance and fidgeted nervously in the back seat. Ringo figured that he went through an entire pack of cigarettes on the drive home. She couldn't blame him though because she was down to the last two in her pack. Connor pressed his head to the window and closed his eyes. The Range Rover pulled into the cottage drive and Ringo sighed and roughly pushed open her door. The boys did the same, only a bit more reluctantly.

While walking up the steps into and waiting for Ringo to unlock the door, Connor smirked at Murphy, gesturing at his brother's arm. Murphy frowned and hung his head.

"Are you coming?" Ringo asked dramatically from inside the door. "Or would you prefer to sleep outside tonight?"

"Calm down, lass. We're coming." Connor insisted, pushing Murphy in front of him and after Ringo. Once inside, Ringo locked the door and stood with her back to it. Her eyes narrowed as she shifted her gaze between the brothers. Connor smirked at her and winked and Murphy held her eyes with a steady gaze.

"Which one should I start with?" Ringo asked slyly. Her anger subsided as soon as she entered the safety of the cottage and now that the three were locked inside, the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders. "Murphy, for your sake I'll start with Connor. Don't think I didn't catch the 'OH SHIT' look on your face earlier."

"Ringo-" Murphy started, flailing his arms wildly, moving backwards, away from the small girl.

"Stay." She demanded hotly. She'd been scared out of her mind the whole day and she figured that it was Murphy's turn to be afraid. The idea that he could even be afraid of her was ridiculous enough. "Connor, upstairs, now."

"Yes ma'am." Connor replied with another wink. He punched his brother on the shoulder none to gently and quickly moved up the stairs to the bedroom. Murphy flipped him off and cursed, but dared not move. Ringo smirked at him and brushed past him slowly. She was unable to stifle the shiver that traveled throughout her entire body at the contact with him.

When she reached the bedroom at the top of the stairs, she entered to reveal Connor sitting on his bed waiting for her. He smiled brightly at her as she moved to the center of the room. Ringo considered him for moment before moving in front of him. Even though he was seated and she stood, the height was matched and the girl's eyes were level with the Irishman.

"I know you're not hurt, Connor." Ringo admitted with a smile. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently. "I just want to fuck with Murph a bit."

"He scratched his arm on the way into the basement. Sharp edge of the window and such. I doubt it even bled. But I've got to hand it to you, Ringo. That threat was very convincing. Murph's scared to death."

"I can put on a pretty good show. I'm just glad you both got out without bullet holes. I guess in my mind I figured that there would be more of a struggle."

"Nah, I mean, Whittaker heard us and all and came at us with a gu-"

"Connor, please. I don't think I want to know how close you came to getting a bullet put in you. All I care is that you're alive and not bleeding profusely. Both of you."

"Well, my dear brother might need a bandaid. Perhaps a Scooby-Doo one?" Connor chuckled. Ringo laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms moved to her waist and he held her tight to him. The lady pulled back and locked her blue eyes with his blue orbs. He was relaxed now, more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. The Saints had successfully taken out their first target since the fiasco with the Old Man and Ringo knew how important it was that it went so smoothly. Connor moved his hands to her face and he pulled her in for a kiss. "Go take care of Murph. He's probably about to piss himself." Ringo giggled and kissed Connor once more and pulled away from him and turned to make her way back down the stairs. As she descended, she saw Murphy, sitting on the couch with his head laid back. He heard her footsteps on the wooden stairs and his head shot up and he slowly pulled himself to a standing position.

"Murphy MacManus. Anything you'd like to tell me about?" Ringo asked sternly, trying to keep herself from smiling. He looked really pathetic. Ringo even felt a bit guilty about ruining his earlier excitement about the job. He'd get it back soon enough. He shook his head and stood even taller, trying to match Ringo's harsh stance. "My bedroom, now." Murphy gulped a bit and pushed past the girl. When he finally had his back to her, Ringo let out the silent laugh and she almost doubled over. She regained the façade of seriousness and followed him into the room. "Sit on the bed."

"Ringo, I-"

"Take off your shirt."

"Is that really neccess-"

"I said take it off, MacManus."

Murphy sighed and did as he was asked. After he had it off, he stood before her and crossed his arms over his chest. Ringo sucked in a breath as she let her eyes glide over his chest and stomach. However, he was now successfully covering his arm with the other. Ringo softened her eyes at his cleverness and in two large strides she was in front of him.

"Let me see it."

"No."

"Murphy." (A warning.)

"It's just a scr-"

"Murphy, baby, please?" Murphy glared at her, knowing Ringo never used the word 'baby' unless she was referring to an infant and even then, he was pretty sure she normally called them 'spawn.' His skeptical glare was the final straw and Ringo smiled at him and laughed a bit before she gently tugged on his right arm. He reluctantly let her examine it, ready to recoil.

"Don't fucking 'baby' me Ringo. If you're going to hit me, just do it already! I'm not scared of a girl!" he mumbled.

"Murphy, godamnit. You know I'm not going to hit you. It's a scratch, barely even broke the skin!"

"May I remind you that earlier, you emphasized that even a SCRATCH would warrant death…"

"Oh, Murph. My threats are hollow. You should know that by now."

"Jesus Christ, woman. Why you gotta fuck with me like that?"

"I just wanted to get your shirt off." Ringo whispered, crossing her own arms. Murphy's head whipped up at this in disbelief.

"Well if you wanted that, all you had to do was ask nicely."

"But it's so much more fun to see you shake a little first. Murphy, if you even knew how terrified I've been all day, you'd realize that what you were feeling was a fraction of what I've been feeling."

"I don't know what to say, Ringo. I don't know how to make it okay."

"You made it back without any mortal wounds. Thrills me, really."

"I know Connor promised you we'd make it out okay, Ringo. But I can't do that. It's not that I think we can't take care of ourselves, but if I've learned anything from this shit, it's that the unexpected will most likely always happen. I don't want to lie to you because I know you can see through bullshit. I can promise you that I'll try as hard as I fucking can to make sure we both get out, but-"

"Murph. You don't have to explain to me. I understand, and I appreciate that you're honest with me. You're the most honest person I think I've ever met and I love you for that." Ringo whispered the last part. Murphy raised a brow and looked down at the girl whose face was turning redder by the second.

"Is that the only reason you love me?" he asked cheekily. Ringo looked up at him quickly, her hopes that he wouldn't catch the last bit due to the whisper were shot in the fucking head.

"Murphy," she began, trying to be as honest with him as he always was with her. "I could never list all of the reasons that I love you because the truth is, it would take the rest of my fucking life. And please, please, please do not get me started on this subject because this will just turn into the 'Ringo gets stupid and girly and pathetic' hour and you don't want that, do you?"

"Maybe I do."

"Murphy. Goddamn it Murphy MacManus. You and your idiot brother mean more to than anyone else ever has. I don't think I can ever go back to a life that doesn't have you in it. I refuse to. I love you, Murphy. I love you so much that it scares the shit out of me because I've never loved anyone this much in my while fucking life. If something happened to one of you, part of me will die too! I just- I'm not great at explaining all this shit because like I said, I've never felt this way about anyone. Just, please. Don't fucking die. Don't leave me. Don't fucking flirt with Eunice goddamn Bloom!"

At this, Murphy burst out in laughter and pulled Ringo into an embrace. He tried to catch his breath as he felt her stiffen against him. He stroked a hand through her hair gently and kissed the top of her head.

"Special Agent Bloom's got nothing on you, Ringo. Absolutely nothing."

"It was just an examp-"

"Ringo, please, trust me. There isn't another girl in the entire world that means as much to us as you do."

"Yeah, you just haven't met her yet."

"Ringo, " Murphy warned, "Don't make me yell at you like Connor does. I don't want to do that. But you're going to fucking listen to me!"

Ringo nodded and wrapped her arms around Murphy's waist and inhaling his scent.

"I'm not going to speak for Connor right now. He can tell you himself. I'm telling you what I feel for you and I love you, Ringo. And if you don't get that, you're fucking dim. I love you too. So just shut up and accept it. You love me, I love you. That's the way it's going to be. The matter is settled."


	15. Chapter 15

It was well past five o'clock in the morning and Ringo was sitting on the couch in the living room. She took a drag from her cigarette and tried to remember why she wasn't sleeping like Connor was upstairs. Murphy's low voice cut through her thoughts and suddenly, she knew why she was still awake.

"Ringo, are you fuckin' listening to me?"

Murphy was the reason she was trying and mostly failing to keep her eyes open. Normal people would have been exhausted and gladly welcomed sleep, but not Murphy MacManus. No, he was too damn excited about the Whittaker job to sleep and he had decided that Ringo needed to hear every single detail of the job that only took about twenty minutes. If you didn't know better, you'd think it took two hours.

"Yep, Murph. Keep going." Ringo encouraged. There was no fighting this. Murphy had told her he loved her moments ago and the girl knew the least she could do after such a revelation was to listen to his jittery rant. Ringo cleared her throat and straightened her back in an attempt to appear much more awake than she felt. Sure, Ringo Carson knew exhaustion. She got tired. Especially after the Vegas and Atlantic City jobs. But this wave of tired was more intense than anything she'd ever felt in her life. When Ringo got tired, she disconnected her phone and usually took a little vacation to a small town in in north of Maine. She wished she could have taken Murphy there at that moment, but this was impossible.

"Well, as I was saying, then the motherfucker has the balls to say 'I don't know how you got in here, but I can assure you that you won't be getting out.'"

"Really? Wait, which one of you did he see first again?"

"Jesus, Ringo! Pay attention. I was hiding behind the wall in the kitchen and Connor was at the foot of the stairs! Jarvis popped out of the living room like a fucking ninja and held a gun to the back of Connor's head."

"Fuck, Murph. I didn't need to know that." Ringo was getting agitated now. Connor had been smart and kept his mouth shut about the fact that Whittaker had a six shooter to the back of his head for a moment.

"That's not the important part, Ringo!" Murphy shouted.

"Shush. You're going to wake up your brother."

"Fuck him. I'm telling this!"

"Fine, speak."

"Are you going to listen so I don't have to repeat myself fifty times?"

"I'm warning you, Murph. I will fuck you up, dude."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Goddamn it Murph! I said speak! I'm listening- hanging off your every word in fact."

"Bullshit"

"I'm going to stab you in the throat."

"Before you do, let me fucking finish. As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted…Connor froze and I think he panicked a little bit. See, Jarvis was supposed to be asleep and we were going to check for his family before we killed him. But he must have heard us coming up the stairs from the damn basement. The house is old as shit and everything fucking creaked. BUT! Before Jarvis could say another smug word, I fired two warning shots into his leg! He didn't even see it coming Ringo, it was fucking brilliant!"

"I'm sure the bullets moved in slow motion, too?"

"Stow it, Ringo."

"Fine."

"Then, he fell on the floor howling about how he was going to kill us, which as we know, was never going to fucking happen. So we made him tell us who else was in the house and he said it was only him. Fucker even made a move to grab his gun, but I kicked it away."

"Always thinking, you!"

Murphy shot her another annoyed glace, but ignored the statement and went back to explaining and gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Then we had to drag him into the living room where we put him on his knees and blew the fuckers eyes out of his head!" Murphy finished with a ta-da motion and a small bow. He looked at Ringo expectantly.

"Did you do the prayer and the pennies shit?"

"Hey now! That's our fucking bag, Ringo."

"Murphy."

"Of course we did."

"That was a fucking stupid idea."

"What? Why?"

"Not the prayer, dumbass. The pennies."

"How do you figure?"

"Well I 'figure' that England is an extradition country. And the internet is fucking global. And when news gets out about the goddamn pennies, the FBI will know exactly where you are. And they'll find you and extradite you back to Boston and then give you the fucking electric chair."

"They're not going to find us, Ringo."

"They did before."

"That wasn't our fault. Bloom didn't do her job."

"Oh, has someone found fault in the gorgeous southern belle?"

"Don't start Ringo. I get it. You don't like her very much. Drop it."

"Still."

"Still nothing, Ringo. They're not going to find us. I'm sure Smecker has thought through all of this a few times. Plus, finding us in Boston was much easier than finding us in Europe."

"That could be true if Smecker doesn't keep you near London very long. But I assume that Whittaker has a few associates that you and your brother will be expected to take care of. And when he winds up dead I'm sure those associates might have a hint as to why."

"You think too much, Ringo."

"And you don't think enough, Murphy."

"Why can't you just trust us when we tell you that it's going to be just fucking fine?"

Ringo opened her mouth to retort, but closed it when she realized that Murphy had a valid point. Maybe it was because she was so used to being in charge and she couldn't handle someone else making all the plans and telling her every move she was going to make. Maybe it was that OCD that the doctor had insisted she had. Maybe it was a lot of things. Ringo knew that soon the brothers would tire of her constant battle for control and she didn't want to know what happened after that.

"Okay, Murph." She mumbled. Murphy was mad at her and she could feel it radiating off of his being. He huffed a bit and turned his back to her as he stalked up the stairs, all while muttering something about 'fucking control freak bitch.'

Ringo growled at herself out loud realizing that her fight with the Irishman had provided a second wind that was going to prevent her from the joy of sleep for a little bit longer. She heard a bit of commotion from the second floor and then heard Murphy shout 'YOU DEAL WITH HER' at his brother. 'SHE'LL FUCKING LISTEN TO YOU. APPARENTLY WHATEVER I SAY IS BULLSHIT.' Connor shouted back at him to 'shut the fuck up' and Ringo bolted to her feet as she realized that Connor was indeed coming downstairs to 'deal' with her and he was probably going to be very unhappy that he had been woken. At this, Ringo grabbed her jacket from the kitchen chair, double checking for her cigarettes and the keys to the car. She then jogged out of the house and to the Range Rover that was parked where she had previously left it. Once inside she made to start the SUV but after turning the key she lifted her head and saw Connor standing in front of his with his hands on the hood. He looked tired and simply looked at her a tight mouth and raised eyebrows.

"Ringo." He started, the sleep still evident in his voice, "Get out of the car and get your ass back into the house. Now."

"Nah. I don't think I will, Conn. I think I'm going for a bit of a drive to clear my head, as it were."

"Ringo. Please. You need to go to sleep. I'll deal with Murph later for keeping you up. Now, like I said, get out and go back inside."

"No, Connor. I'm going for a drive, I'll be back later."

"Fine. You're going to fucking make this up to me though!" Connor promised her. Ringo realized that they'd been shouting at each other through the glass of the windshield the whole time. Ringo started to yell back, but had to stop because in a flash, the passenger side door was open and Connor was buckling himself into the seat next to her. He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned before he held his hand out to her.

"What?"

"Give me a fucking cigarette, Ringo. Six o'clock joyrides are not exactly something to be tackled without the proper amount of nicotine." Connor's voice was laced with the same exhaustion that Ringo had felt earlier. After she had given him the cigarette and lighter, she eyed him carefully. "You going to drive or not, Ringo? I don't have all fucking day here!"

"I don't want you here, MacManus."

"Too fucking bad. If there's one thing I know about women, it's that when they get upset and take off in a car, you'd better fucking follow them because they're probably going to get themselves in a whole hell of a lot of trouble."

"That was completely grammatically correct. I am impressed. I half expected you to mix up your singular and plural pronouns there."

"Ringo. How dare you question my grammar skills? Now drive the fucking car or get out."

"Fine. But don't even get me started on how chauvinistic you sounded just now."

"I could care less how I sounded Ringo. I shouldn't even be 'sounding' right now. I should be fucking sleeping."

"Then go sleep. I'm just going to drive around and then I'll come back and go to sleep and when I wake up we'll all be best friends again and I'll bet there'll even be a double rainbow and some unicorns prancing around." Ringo spat heatedly. This was the Connor that Ringo thought had been vanquished the day she beat him to the floor.

"I don't think you're understanding what I'm telling you, Carson. You can't be trusted on your own."

"I did just fucking fine on my own for the past ten years!"

"Well those days are over."

"Are you kidding me? You think that just because you fuck me and tell me that you care about me gives you the right to treat me like a child and tell me what to do?!"

"I wouldn't have to treat you like a child if you would stop acting like one. You can't just run away when things don't go your way anymore. That life is over for you. You're not stealing shit anymore, Ringo. You're killing people. And in order for this situation to work, you've got to trust me. You've got to trust me, Murph, Smecker, and maybe even Eunice at times."

"Fuck tha-"

"REGARDLESS. The point is this: you want to be a part of this, you've got to let go and trust other people and trust that while you may not agree with every decision that's made, it's for the best of everyone."

"If I want to be a part of this? Because last I checked, I wasn't really given a choice. And now I'm in the fucking deep end of this shit. I can't stop being a part of this now!"

"Sure you can, Ringo." Connor insisted gently. He bit his lip before continuing as if he already regretted his next statement. "Murph and I discussed it yesterday and I stand by what I said to you in your house weeks ago, I know you're good at what you do, but we're not convinced that you're good at what we do."

Connor had just delivered a swift kick to Ringo's face and he knew it. He had hoped the conversation would not take this nasty turn, but here it was and he had to say it quick before the logical and honest part of his mind kept him from kicking her even harder. She'd never know he was lying if he could just get it out quick enough.

"You said 'we're not convinced.' Murph feels the same way?"

"Ringo. That's not the point right now. The point is that you can still get out of this. You can go back to New York as long as we're not with you. You can go back to your life. When I said that your old life was over, I only meant that it was over if you stayed with us."

"Connor please, don't-" Ringo begged. She knew what he was getting at. She knew what he was telling her to do.

"This isn't your fight, Ringo. And I'd be lying if I said that worrying about you during all of this wasn't a bit distracting. And your feelings for us keep you from understanding that the most important thing is our job. There's little room for anything else when you boil it all down."

"So you're asking, no, what you're telling me to do is to go back to New York and forget that any of this ever happened."

"Ringo-"

"No. Let me work this out in my head. You're telling me that all the shit you said about how much you cared about me was all convenient in the moment because you figured you'd get a good fuck out of it? Figured that once you'd both fucked the girl that she wasn't really useful anymore? Because what? Because I think through shit before I go running in, guns blazing!? Because I give a fuck about what happens to you two idiots? Is that it? Is it because I'm not exactly a pro at taking other people's lives? What is it Connor, please. Enlighten me. Because I'm about two seconds from losing my goddamn mind!"

"Fuck, Ringo. You've had two panic attacks in less than a week of being here and you expect me to just ignore it and let you tag along? We need a guarantee that you can handle yourself emotionally during all of this shit. Truth be told, you've kind of proved that you're unable to do that."

"Jesus."

"It's not that we don't care about you, Ringo. If you think that then you're fucking wrong. We'd both protect you with our lives, but that's exactly the problem. All three of us are letting all these fucking 'feelings' get the best of us and it's not going to end well for anyone. This isn't a time for romance and all that shit, Ringo. Smecker was right when he said that we're taking this to a whole other level. Murph and I need to be focused on what's important."

"And that's not me."

"Ringo, I didn't mean it like that."

"No. I understand. I really do, Connor. And you'll have to excuse my honesty, but if I had a gun right now, I would probably shoot you in your fucking face."

"Ringo, please. I didn't expect to have to tell you all of this right now. We'd planned to wait a bit before we made the final decision because hell, we fucking like having you around, but I just don't know if we have the luxury of that time anymore."

Ringo wanted to kick and scream and claw at Connor's face, but she found that she simply lacked the energy to do so. She was so tired. And this was such a blow to her pride, ego, heart…Mostly though; she realized that because she did love the boys as much as she did, getting mad would only make it worse. Anger, Ringo knew, was at the heart of destruction. So no, she would not get mad. She would allow herself to be sad. She could allow herself to cry every day for the rest of her life, but she would not allow herself to get angry. They were trying to keep themselves safe and all that Ringo wanted was for them to survive as long as possible.

"Alright, Connor. Call Smecker and tell him to send the lap dog to come pick me up and take me to the airport. I'm not going to argue this with you. You and Murph don't want me here anymore and I, unlike both of you, care about you enough to oblige your wishes." There should have been a substantial amount of venom in her voice, but all she could offer was a weak whisper and a small whimper. Ringo knew she sounded like a goddamn wounded animal, but it was alright, because she felt like just that. Connor swore and hung his head. Ringo hoped he felt guilty, or sad, or anything. Anything! All she wanted was for him to hurt like she was hurting so that he'd understand how much she loved him. If he could only feel it as she did, he would know. And that would be enough.

Connor watched in horror as Ringo lost the battle with her eyes and the tears started running down her cheeks. The girl did not cry out, but silently allowed her body to shake with sobs. Connor looked away from her because he wasn't able to handle the fact that his lies were the reason for her pain. He was disgusted with himself, but he and Murphy had decided that he had to be the one to deceive her. Murphy would never have been able to so callously tell her to remove herself from his life. Connor knew how much his brother loved Ringo. He was pretty sure that even though it didn't seem possible, that Murphy loved Ringo more than he did. Murphy would have broken down in the middle and confessed that it was all untrue and that he needed her next to him like he needed air to breathe.

If Ringo ever found out why they had to kick her out so abruptly, she would understand. Connor hoped this more than anything.

A while later, after Connor had finally forced himself to get out of the car and go back inside, Ringo decided it was best for her to do the same. She felt barely alive and she was ready to welcome death, or sleep. Whichever came first. She was able to drag herself inside and collapse on the bed, but just barely. Her mind was shutting down and Ringo found that she was unable to feel anything except exhaustion. She knew that in a few hours Eunice would arrive and she'd be escorted back to her life of theft and non-existence. Maybe that's what made her so sad. For the first time in ten years, Ringo Carson had actually felt like she existed in someone's world.

Connor pulled out the folder that Smecker had slipped him the night he dropped off the Whittaker blueprints. He opened it and looked at the name of the target sadly. He was suddenly angry that this man was the reason he had to lie to Ringo and treat her as a liability. The name seemed to glow in the dim light of the morning.

Name: Victor Azarenka

Status: Boss, Azarenka crime syndicate

Known associates: Novak Azarenka (deceased), Alec Azarenka (deceased), Jarvis Whittaker.

History: Victor became the boss after the death of his brother, Novak Azarenka. Novak was killed ten years ago in Boston after a mutiny within his syndicate. The remaining members left Boston and returned to Russia to regain strength. Novak's wife Maria was also killed the same night. Their sixteen year old daughter Nadia was never found and is presumed dead. Victor has since built his empire around the sex and drug trade that flows through Moscow. It is estimated that he is worth over one hundred million dollars at the present time.

Connor cursed Smecker for picking this one. He knew what he was fucking doing to them. Maybe it was a test, maybe it was supposed to be some sick way to harden Ringo, but Murphy and Connor had decided that it was far too cruel to force Ringo to aid in the killing of her own uncle. He had to be taken care of, but the boys knew that she didn't have to be a part of it.

Connor sighed and looked at his brother who had woken up when he heard Connor enter the room.

"How'd you do?"

"I hope I was convincing. From her reaction, I'd say I was."

"She alright?"

"No, Murph. She's not alright at all. We've got to get Eunice out here as soon as possible because if I have to look at Ringo one more time I'll crack and I'll tell her everything."

"Connor, she'll hate us if she finds out about her uncle, not to mention the fact that she'll hate us for pretending we don't want her."

"I know, but what else were we supposed to do? Suggest that she stay home for the next one and beg her not to ask any questions? That wouldn't work and you know it."

"I fucking hate this."

"I know, Murph. It's not fair."

"I don't know if I can do this without her. She's changed everything for me, Connor! I never really cared what happened to me until I met her and realized that I finally had a reason to be as careful as possible. If she wouldn't have risked her own neck to get us out, we'd probably still be sitting in prison! How am I supposed to face her and make her believe that I don't care that I owe her everything. How am I supposed to act like I don't love her?"

"There isn't another option, Murph. We agreed that this way was best. This way, we don't have to risk hurting her physically if she found out about Victor. Because we both know we'd stand there and let her kill us both before we'd harm her. This is the way it has to be."


	16. Chapter 16

Connor was too angry to even think about speaking to Bloom at a time like this. Maybe it was because he already felt guilt the size of the Empire State building over the things that he had said to Ringo and the thought of speaking to someone she so despised made him feel like he was just kicking her when she was down. Murphy had grumbled about having to make the call, but agreed that he had to do his share in this little game of betrayal.

"Bloom, it's Murphy. Yeah, wait, why the fuck does it matter if I call you Eunice? No, I don't give a shit if you call me MacManus! Really? Is it that big of a deal?"

"MURPH! Call her fucking Eunice and get the fuck on with it!" Connor roared. Murphy rolled his eyes and went back to his conversation with Bloom.

"Fine, Eunice. Better? Great, now let's get on with it. We need you to pick up Ringo and take her to the airport…because she's going back to fucking New York that's why! It doesn't matter why woman! Please? Come on now, we all know you've had your differences, but this should be a win-win situation here…well because you hate her and she hates you and now she'll be out of the picture."

"Murph. Seriously. Just get her out here. It's none of her business."

"Connor, Eunice says that it's her business if she fucking says it is."

"Tell her-"

"He's sorry. Just be here in a couple of hours…yeah I guess she will need a ticket…we didn't think about that! No, you don't have to do everything! Calm the fuck down!"

Murphy cursed again as he threw the phone against the wall.

"Murph. That was Ringo's phone." Connor reminded.

"Fuck."

"Oh well, she's already pissed enough. What's another fucking brick in the wall?"

"On a scale of one to homicidal rampage, how pissed is she exactly?" Murphy asked quietly.

"That's the thing. She was mad for about a minute. She said she'd shoot me in the face if she had a gun, but after that, she just looked really- really- sad."

"Sad?"

"Yeah, like I'd just kicked her fucking puppy."

"More like we gutted her puppy" Murphy groaned. Connor exhaled a deep breath and shared the moment of tortured silence with his brother.

"What time did Bloom say she'd be here?"

"Oh, you'd better not call her Bloom when she gets here."

"I'll call her whatever the fuck I want to call her! I don't give a shit about her right now!"

"She'll be here in two hours."

"Good. Ringo's probably passed out downstairs. I don't think a tornado could wake her up right now. You should go pack her things up so that we can let her sleep for the longest possible time." Connor demanded.

"Why do I have to do it? What if she wakes up! I told you that I can't fucking look at her like this!"

"Murph, I fucking broke her heart, I think you can do something as simple as packing her shit up."

"Did you tell her it was all your idea?"

"Not entirely…"

"Did you tell her it was all my idea?"

"No, calm down. I told her WE talked about it and she asked if that meant that you felt the same way and I told her that wasn't really the point."

"So we're both selfish bastards in her eyes then?"

"I guess, Murph."

"Connor, this is by far the most fucked up thing I think we've ever done."

"We've killed a lot of people-"

"Yeah, but that doesn't make me feel like such an asshole. Ma would literally murder us if she was around to see this."

"Aye, she would. You know, I think Ma would've loved Ringo."

"Fuck yeah she would have Connor! Although, I think she would turn in her grave if she knew that we were both fucking her…"

"Ma's probably cursed us already. Probably told God to make our lives difficult just because of it."

"Just another reason I don't want to die any time soon. I'll just be met at the pearly white gates with a fucking beating."

"Murph, we're getting off topic. Go pack her shit. And if she wakes up, promise me you can handle yourself."

"Fine.

"Promise."

"I promise Connor. Now fuck off unless you want to pack her shit."

Ringo, due to the life she had been forced to lead, seemed to always sleep with one eye open. This was a source of great annoyance to the lady, especially when she was so goddamn tired. The second she heard the door to her room open, her eyes did the same. Fortunately, her back was facing the door so that the intruder was unable to see that she was awake. Ringo listened to the intruder take a deep, albeit shaky, breath and she knew instantly that it was Murphy. Her eyes instantly filled with tears and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Murphy quietly walked further into the room and fumbled a bit with her duffle before he began filling it with things from the drawers. When he'd put half of her clothing in, he abruptly stopped and Ringo was positive that she heard his breath hitch. She didn't dare turn over to look at him because she knew that there was no way to face him without breaking down. Ringo then heard a thump and realized that Murphy had slumped down against the wall and was probably sitting on the floor. She further gathered that his hands were covering his face because when he whispered to what he thought was the sleeping girl, his words were muffled.

"Fuck, Ringo. You have no idea how much I don't want you to go. I don't know if I can bear to see you leave. I wish that we could just quit this goddamn calling, but we can't and I hope that one day you'll understand that. If I could, I would give it all up and take you far away. We'd bring Connor too, I suppose. I know you fancy him quite a bit. But we can't Ringo. This is the life we have to lead. There's no other way. We can't stop being the Saints. I know you'd never ask us to, either. No matter what Connor has led you to believe, I know that you'd follow us around forever and never once ask us to stop. And it's not that we love our job more than we love you, Ringo. I promise that it's not that. We just know, ya know? We just know what we have to do."

Tears were pouring down Ringo's pale face by this point and a sob was building up in her lungs, threatening to burst at the next word that Murphy uttered.

"I'm sorry that I called you a control freak bitch, too. That was unfair. Even if you didn't hear me, but I bet you did. I know this is a lot to ask of you, especially now, but Ringo, please, please don't hate us. I don't think I can survive knowing that you hate me. I meant what I said when I told you that I loved you. I will always love you Ringo. You'll move on though, I know it. You'll go back to New York and find some nice fellow who can offer you what we never could: a stable life, a normal nine to five job, children…all the things that you could never have with us."

At this, Ringo was no longer able to contain herself. She sat up so quickly that it made her head spin and she growled out a simple 'NO!' Murphy's head shot up from his hands and he looked at her as if she'd just risen from the dead.

"Ring-"

"No, Murphy. You fucking listen to me! I'll never find anyone else because I don't want anyone else you selfish bastard. How dare you tell me to move on and forget you? I don't give a shit what you two do with the rest of your life, but don't you fucking dare try to tell me to just move on and forget you! Don't you fucking dare! There is not now, nor will there ever be a man in this godforsaken world that could ever replace you. Never. And if anyone ever tries, I'll fuck them up with my bare hands."

"Ringo, darling. That's not fair to you-or us."

"Why? Because you'll have to wake up knowing how miserable I am every day because I'm not sleeping next to you? Believe me when I say that knowing is certainly not as bad as BEING the miserable one. So just let me feel what the fuck I need to feel and get over it. Your brother said it earlier, Murph. You need to focus on the task at hand and I'm just making it more difficult. So just accept the fact that I'll never move on and work on moving on yourself. I don't hate you, Murphy. I don't hate Connor either. You don't hate people that you love, so don't you walk around moping because you think I hate you."

"Ringo, you have no idea how badly I wish it didn't have to be this way. You could never understand how difficult this was for me, for us. I don't expect you to try to understand because to be honest, I'm not quite sure I understand myself. But what I do understand is that watching you walk out of this house and out of my life forever will be the one thing that I will regret for the rest of my life."

"Then why does it have to be this way."

"Ringo. Please. Believe me when I tell you that this has to happen. I can't explain the reasons because it would just make it even worse for everyone. It would make it so much worse."

Ringo had no words left to offer Murphy in that moment. Perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion that she felt, or maybe it was something deep inside of her that told her that maybe it was a bad idea to wonder why the twins were disposing of her. It didn't matter, though because nothing was going to change it. Connor and Murphy were nothing if not final in their decisions. Ringo rose from her bed and gently took the bag from Murphy's hands and finished filling it with her clothing without speaking another word. Murphy probably thought she was angry, but she wasn't. Ringo just didn't have anything else to say. There was no reason to waste her breath. Murphy made to go towards her and touch her one last time, but thought better of it. Ringo hoped that it was because if he did, he'd decide that he couldn't, wouldn't and shouldn't let her go. He left the room quickly and bounded back up the stairs. Ringo exhaled and sat on the bed to await the arrival of Eunice fucking Bloom. It was time to mentally prepare for a two hour car ride with the woman she despised and it got her mind off of the fact that she was leaving. Ringo briefly wondered if Bloom would try to comfort one of the twins with her sultry southern drawl and her impressive physical appearance.

"Fuck!" Ringo roared. This last thought made her angry. Very angry. Suddenly her mind was filled with images of Connor and Eunice together and it was enough to make Ringo want to kill Eunice as soon as she walked in the door. Ringo threw her bag at the back of the door in a furious rage. "I'll fucking kill that bitch if she even so much as tries to TOUCH one of them!"

The sad thing was, Ringo would never know if Bloom did. She could fuck one of them and there was absolutely nothing Ringo Carson could do about it. Ringo collapsed on the floor, sobbing. She didn't care if the boys heard her. She knew that they couldn't afford to be around her now anyways. (If she could have seen them during her sob-fest, she could have seen that Murphy was about to cry himself and Connor was literally pounding his head against the door to keep himself from going to comfort her.)

About an hour and a half later, a knock at the cottage door forced Ringo to compose herself enough to rise from the floor and wipe her tear stained cheeks. She straightened her clothing and picked up the duffle that she'd earlier thrown against the door. The boys slowly walked down the stairs at the same time that the girl exited the room and they both kept their eyes straight ahead and refused to even glance at her. Connor went to the door and threw it open, not ready to deal with Bloom at this moment. He knew that she'd offer a purr of a greeting and that even hearing her speak to him that way would just twist the knife deeper into Ringo's heart. His eyes widened when he beheld the person on the other side of the door.

"You sneaky Irish bastards. You think you could just get little Eunice to do your bidding and I wouldn't find out?" Smecker shouted. Connor backed up and Murphy shifted his eyes from his brother, to Smecker, to Ringo and back to his brother.

"Smecker we-" Connor started.

"Don't even think about talking, Connor. I should beat the shit out of both of you for pulling this fucking stunt."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Paul?" Ringo asked. She had to admit that she was relieved to see Paul instead of Bloom, but his anger with the boys confused her. Ringo had figured that the boys had explained the situation to Smecker already.

"I'm talking about how these two little punks tried to back door this whole operation and send you back to New York."

"Smeck, really, it's okay. Connor explained it all-"

"He did?"

"Smecker! Please, no!" Murphy begged.

"Yeah, he told me that they feel that I'm just not strong enough to do this and that I'm pretty much holding them back and all that shit. Point is that I'm going back to New York. I've accepted it. So let's go before-" Ringo offered.

"You really tried to pull that shit, Connor? You lied right to her face?"

"What? Lied? Connor? Murphy? What the fuck is he talking about?"

Murphy stared intently at the ground and Connor's face was bright red with anger. His fists were balled and Ringo thought that at any moment he was going to explode and beat the fuck out of Smecker.

"Connor!" Ringo roared. She hated it when people kept things from her and right about now the girl realized that she was the only one in the group who was completely out of the loop.

"Ringo, I, we-"

"Ringo, what Connor is trying to say, is that all the shit about you holding them back and being weak is all a load of complete shit. The cowards are just afraid of what you'd do when you found out who the next mark was." Smecker stated calmly, grasping the angry girl by the shoulders.

"Smecker, shut the fuck up now!" Murphy roared. "We're not fucking cowards! We just don't want to hurt her!"

"ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP. The next person who speaks before I tell them to is going to get shot in the balls."

The three men all shut their mouths and widened their eyes at the girl. While most of her threats were hollow, they each believed that in this moment it was best not to test this threat.

"Now, Smecker. Give me the file on the next mark. Don't speak, motherfucker, just get the goddamn folder."

Ringo, Connor, and Murphy shared an incredibly tense moment while Smecker trotted back to his car to retrieve the information that Ringo required. Murphy was shaking his head and fumbling to light a cigarette. Connor and Ringo were locked in a staring contest, both of their faces hard. Each refused to give up. After what seemed like an hour, Smecker re-entered the cottage and thrust the manila folder into Ringo's hands. She looked at each of the three men with a death glare before all but ripping the folder open. As soon as she saw the name, her eyes widened to twice their normal size and she cursed under her breath. Murphy let out a whimper and hung his head in shame. Connor's eyes were still hard as he tried to anticipate Ringo's next move. Smecker just smirked at the twins and took a drag from his own cigarette. Ringo forced herself to read the entire first page of the contents of the file before she spoke. She finally understood why the boys had wanted her to leave. It all made such perfect sense now. No wonder Murphy had told her that knowing would make it worse for everyone.

Ringo shut the folder and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She knew that the way she chose to handle this would make or break the rest of her life. She had a whole shitload of things to think about. She was forced to make a choice. A choice that would change her forever. On the one hand, here were two men that she loved. Loved more than she loved herself. On the other, a member of her own family. Her father's brother. Her uncle. The man who had been named her godfather. The last remaining member of the Azarenka line of blood. This was the most fucked up thing Ringo had ever had to deal with in her entire life. But even more fucked up was the statement that came from her mouth in the next moment. Ringo didn't even realize that she was speaking. It was as if the words came from somewhere other than her own vocal cords and she couldn't stop them.

"I guess we're going to Russia. I'll need to get a warmer coat. It's going to be cold there."

Murphy choked on the smoke in his lungs and stared at Ringo with an unreadable expression. Connor eyed her a bit more skeptically, his guard still up in case she tried to shoot him. Smecker just sighed and took another drag of his cigarette impatiently.

"May I speak now, Ms. Carson?" he asked, obviously annoyed.

"Yes, Paul. You may."

"Good. Now, I'm leaving. You two boys deal with whatever shit you've gotten yourselves into by lying to this lovely lady. Ringo, darling, I know you're feeling like you'd like to kill them right now, but please, for my sake, please refrain." And with that, Smecker once again dropped an atomic bomb right on Ringo's head and made a swift exit.

Murphy and Connor glanced at each other and Connor cleared his throat nervously. Ringo hoped their silence was due to the fact that she'd yet to give them permission to speak.

"Right. Let's get one thing straight right fucking now. Either one of you ever, and I mean EVER, do this shit to me ever again, I swear on my soon to be dead uncle's grave, I will bring you to the brink of death, nurse you back to health, and then take you right back to the brink just for good measure. Understood?"

The boys nodded, realizing that this threat, like the earlier one, was not only a threat, but a promise.

"Now, I'd like silence for the remainder of our time here so that I can properly deal with the million and a half things that are going thru my mind. Please understand that while I have chosen you two pricks over my own flesh and blood, I am not happy about it. I honestly don't know what I'm more furious about- the fact that you lied to me and made me feel like shit, or the fact that I have to help murder my uncle. So. Fuck off and get your things and get in the goddamn car so that we can catch our flight."

"Ringo." Murphy whispered. Connor rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his brother. He really didn't care if Ringo killed Murphy right now. It served the idiot right for speaking.

"Murph. Please. I asked for silence. I'll give you this, boys. You did what you thought you had to do to protect me and I appreciate that even though it is the source of my fury right now. I think you'll agree that I'm being very reasonable right now and I advise you to thank God for that." Ringo finished in an eerily calm voice. Murphy nodded pathetically and Ringo allowed herself to soften for a moment. "Come here, Murph." Murphy did as he was told and when he stood in front of her, Ringo wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face into his chest. Murphy stiffened a bit, but relaxed into her arms and wrapped one arm around her waist and held her head to his chest with his other. "I love you, Murph. I just need a bit, you know?" Ringo pulled back to see his reply and he silently nodded. He let her go and made his way up the stairs to gather his things.

Next it was Connor's turn.

"Connor." Ringo stated simply. She walked up to him slowly, never breaking eye contact. When she was about a foot from him, she raised her hand to his face as fast as lightning and smacked him as hard as she could. He clenched his jaw and took what he knew he deserved. "You know you deserved that. I would have done the same to Murph, but we both know you're the one who masterminded this whole thing and you can handle punishment better than your brother, god bless his heart."

Connor nodded and made to walk away from Ringo, but she was quicker and caught his wrist and pulled him back to face her. When he turned to look at her, she roughly grabbed the back of his head and forced him to bend to her level. She crashed her lips to his in a kiss that could only be described as angry. It wasn't sweet or slow and it didn't scream 'I love you.' It was rough and hard and Ringo bit down on Connor's lip hard enough to draw blood, but he didn't even flinch. Connor let her continue to bruise his mouth with hers until she'd finally gotten her aggression out.

"I love you, Connor. I wish I could make you understand how badly you've broken my heart."

"Ringo-" the word was out before Connor could stop it and when the lady didn't slap him again, he decided to continue in a whisper, "I can never explain to how much I hate what we did. But you have to believe me when I tell you that we were only trying to do what we thought would cause you the least amount of pain."

"Yeah, well next time you want to know what would cause me the least amount of pain, how about you fucking ask me? I'll gladly tell you."

"The last thing I wanted to do was to break your heart."

"You should have thought of that before you lied to me. I don't tolerate lying well, Connor. I thought you trusted me now. I hoped that I'd proved myself to be worthy of your trust…"

"You have, Ringo. I just- I didn't want to put you in a position where you had to choose between us and your family."

"Life is about the choices you make, Connor. The choices we make are what define us. I choose you and Murphy. I'll choose you until the day I die. I thought I made that clear."

"You have now."

"Good. Now get your shit. I still need to get a coat before we catch the flight."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: long time no update. sorry chums. this one is dedicated to Chloes-Cheese who inspired me to pick this one back up.**

Ringo pushed the coats across the rack one by one as she searched for an acceptable one. The brothers elected to wait for her in the car. Murphy was still a bit afraid to speak and Connor knew that even he wasn't smooth enough to navigate through this fucked up situation.

Ringo sighed and finally decided on a navy blue pea coat with silver buttons. She'd be damned if she was going to buy a black one and match the MacManus twins. No way. That would be too weird and lame. Navy blue was way different. WAY DIFFERENT. (Ringo repeated this to herself all the way to the check out.) On her way to pay, the girl picked out some gloves and hats for the boys, black of course, and a pair of gloves and a much prettier hat for herself. It was going to be damn cold in Moscow and she'd rather spend her money on the boys instead of having to listen to them complain and bitch about how cold they were. After paying the cashier, Ringo left the store and took her place in the back seat of the Range Rover.

"Here. Got these for you." She stated flatly, throwing the bag into Connor's lap in the passenger seat. (Because Murphy NEVER gets to drive. Whine Whine.)

"Gloves and hats? Aw, Ringo, you shouldn't have." Murphy said with a chuckle.

"You assholes will be thanking me when we get to Moscow and you're fucking freezing."

"We're already thankful, Ring." Connor muttered, glaring at Murphy. There was still tension between the three assassins. Ringo was still furious at the deception she'd fell victim to and the boys were leery to provoke her further. They fell into a very, very, VERY uncomfortable silence for the remainder of the drive to the small private airfield outside of London. It was the same one that they'd arrived a week earlier. Ringo took her time climbing out of the back seat, obviously not looking forward to the plane ride. Murphy stood next to her and surveyed her worried face.

"Fucking planes." Ringo growled. "My day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"It'll be alright, Ringo." Murphy tried with a small smile.

"No, Murphy. It will not be alright. Nothing will be alright. Ever." Ringo wasn't sure why she'd said the last part. She certainly didn't believe it. The look on Murphy's face told Ringo that if she was trying to hurt him with the statement, she'd accomplished her mission. "Sorry, Murph."

"Sure." He snapped at her. His eyes were narrowed at her and he quickly left her side and entered the cabin of the private plane. Ringo closed her eyes and fought the urge to scream.

"Why, God? WHY? WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?" Ringo muttered towards the sky. "Oh, the stealing? The murder? The sex? The cursing? May I just mention that THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT?! Yes, you're the reason I'm stuck killing people with these two idiots. You're making them do it, right? So come on, if I'm helping with your mission, can't you cut me a little slack? JUST A LITTLE BIT!?"

"Comin' Ringo?" Connor called from the cabin. Ringo reluctantly ended her conversation with the big man upstairs and all but stomped towards the plane. Her anger turned to fear as she felt the vibrations from the plane's engines pulsating through her body. Connor sat in the seat closest to the front and Murphy was stretched out on one of the couch like seats at the back of the plane. Ringo cleared her throat and kept her eyes on the floor as she threw her bag and newly acquired pea coat on the seat across the aisle from Murphy. He didn't bother to look up as she took her seat. No one said a word as the pilot advised them to put on their seatbelts. Still, no one spoke as the door was shut and the plane began to taxi on the runway. Alas, as the plane began to lift off the ground, one person spoke.

"Fuck me." Ringo cried out. Her hands were clenched so tight that her nails were digging into the skin on her palms and just like last time, tears were escaping her eyes. "I hate planes. I fucking hate planes."

"You'll be fine, girl." Murphy mumbled from behind her. The plane kept climbing and the girl kept her focus on her breathing. It really wouldn't do to have a heart attack at 10,000 feet. Once the plane had leveled out and the seatbelt light was removed, Murphy snatched his bag from an overhead compartment and pulled out a full bottle of Dewar's. The Irishman thrust the bottle into Ringo's lap and sunk into the seat next to her.

"Drink. Now." He demanded. When his demand was met with raised eyebrows from the girl next to him, he nodded. "It'll help with your nerves. And mine."

…An hour later, Ringo was happy to report that Murphy was correct about the scotch. Her stomach felt warm, not queasy and her small hands had released the vice grip they previously held. The Dewar's bottle was half empty and safely back in Murphy's canvas bag. Connor was snoring slightly from his seat and Murphy stayed quiet. Even in her buzzed state, Ringo noticed the dark haired twin's hands twitching; a sure sign that he was in need of a nicotine fix.

An unsettling feeling washed over the girl then. She wasn't sure if it was simply a thought that had always been in the back of her mind and was only now being magnified due to her intoxicated state. Surely it must just be a drunken worry, because only a couple days before, she was confessing to Connor that she would never be the same without the twins. But now…but now Ringo couldn't fight the feeling that something had changed between the three. Perhaps it was the gravity of planning her uncle's assassination, or maybe it was just because the magic of the English countryside and the ideal cottage had dissipated. But one thing was certain: something had changed. Ringo could feel resentment setting in her soul. She was pretty sure that the boys were feeling it as well.

Ringo scoffed at herself for being so quick to intimacy with the MacManus twins. She longed to be back in her apartment before any of this happened. It seemed that morning after regrets, lover's remorse, if you will, had taken a few days to set in, but now that it had, it was heavy in the presence of the three occupants of the tiny plane.

Too much awkwardness for a private plane, and Ringo was positive that the brothers knew it too. Her drunken mind forced her to nudge the Irishman next to her. She had to know that someone else felt the dread. Murphy sighed and turned towards her.

"We're never going to be the same, are we Murph?" Ringo asked in a small voice. So small that Murphy had to lean in to hear her better. After considering her statement, Murphy lowered his eyes and turned back to the window before answering.

"I don't think so, Ringo."

"I guess we- no, I. I guess I just got caught up in the whole…adventure thing."

"Don't' shoulder all the blame, Ms. Carson. Shit happens."

"That's all you've got, Murph? 'Shit happens?' I know you and Connor aren't the most elegant duo, but come on, MacManus!" Ringo roared.

"Calm the fuck down! You'll wake up Con!"

"I hope I do! Let's test out that whole 'Twin Telepathy' thing shall we? See if Connor gives me the same stupid ass answer!"

"Girls are so fucking psychotic."

"And guys are all fucking pricks."

"Fuck off."

"You do the same, but leave the bottle of whiskey."

Murphy all but threw the bottle at her head as he retreated to his bench seat in the back of the plane. Ringo smirked and held the bottle close to her chest.

"Oh, Dewar's, you're my only friend now. Too bad I have to drink you." She muttered.

"Oy! Don't' you dare drink the while fucking thing, Carson!" Murphy called.

"Go back to sleep, Murphy darling."

"Both of you motherfuckers shut up or I'll drink the damn thing!" Connor cried.

Needless to say, the rest of the plane ride was spent in relative silence, with only a few small whimpers from Ringo as the plane began its descent into Moscow. The landing strip was poorly cleared of snow and the cold air burned Ringo Carson's lungs as she inhaled from the top step. Should this feel like a return to a homeland? Should she have refused to murder a member of her own family? Would it be in bad form to have a chat and a cup of tea with her long lost brother before Connor and Murphy put guns to the back of his head and said their prayers?

Connor nudged Ringo forward and she reluctantly began to move her feet. There was a black town car about one hundred yards to her left and Ringo was fairly certain it contained one Paul Smecker. 'Good.' Ringo thought to herself, 'I can punch him in the face.' However, much to her dismay, the door opened to reveal the smirking face of one Eunice Bloom. Such fucking luck.

"Goddamnit."

"Lovely to see you, too, Miss Carson." Eunice snarled.

"Was there not another soul in this entire Godforsaken country to pick us up, Bloom?" Connor asked. It wasn't that he was unhappy to see her, but anything that would further spoil Ringo's already foul mood was a ticking time bomb.

"The CEO must be taking the night off, am I right? Or is he just punishing me?" Ringo asked, making the brothers slide in first, leaving her as far from Eunice as possible.

"Seems he's actually punishing me, Ringo. He wasn't happy that I took the call from Murphy and Connor."

"Seeing as how I'd rather be anywhere but right here right now, I'm really sorry you got caught."

"Me too."

"Us too." The boys mumbled.

Ringo half-heartedly glared at the three other passengers and tried to focus on the buildings outside her window. The car was moving quickly through the city of Moscow and Ringo was reading billboards and building names and trying her best to remember what little Russian her parents taught her. She remembered that her father spoke in Russian during conversations with business associates or when he was speaking sweetly to her mother. Ringo understood the language if it was spoken to her. Hence her day of passion with Connor and the words that were whispered in her ear. Ringo doubted that she would ever hear words that sweet ever come out of Connor's mouth again, especially directed towards her.

"This is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting." Ringo whined. She had tried to keep her tone even, but there was no chance of that. The girl was spent.

"Get over it; it's only going to get worse." Murphy spat.

After the half hour drive, the car pulled up to a posh hotel in downtown Moscow.

"Guess the whole 'inconspicuous' thing is going out the window, huh?" Ringo asked, honestly.

"Too right you are, Carson." Bloom answered, "Because we need your uncle to know you're here. That's how we're going to get to him. You're our little bucket of bait."

Three sets of eyes widened and stared at Eunice. Ringo inhaled sharply and felt tears quickly stinging her eyes.

"No. Fucking no way." She gasped, backing away from the agent and the brothers.

"Eunice, that isn't necessary!" Connor spoke. "Get a hold of Smecker, tell him to come meet us. There has to be another way."

'He said you all might not be too fond of the plan, but let me assure you, Victor is a powerful man in these parts and isn't easy to get to. Ringo, or shall I say, Nadia, is the only way to him."

"That's fucking bullshit, Bloom!" Ringo shouted, charging at the red head. Murphy was quicker and grabbed her. Her shouts became louder, "Connor, Murph!? Did you know about this?!" She struggled against Murphy, kicking and writhing until her body became weak against his hold and faint whimpers were all she could manage. Connor and Murphy both swore they had no idea, but Ringo found that her trust was all used up at this point.

"There is no other way. Now, Miss Azarenka, if you would be so kind to go check in, I'll take the boys around back and they'll meet you upstairs in your suite."

"Don't you ever fucking call me that again." Ringo hissed. Murphy had released his hold on her waist and she narrowed her eyes at Bloom and both brothers before stalking off into the hotel.

As Ringo, or Nadia, as the room was reserved under, stood waiting for the clerk to hand over three keys, the horror of the situation crept into her mind. This hotel had been handpicked by Smecker for a reason. Ringo had a sneaking suspicion that it was because her uncle Victor probably owned it. As soon as someone alerted him of the guest in the suite on the sixth floor, he would no doubt find a reason to see the girl himself, if only to verify that it was not his niece. His niece who was presumed dead when she was sixteen. The clerk handed the keys to Ringo and offered a "Have a wonderful stay" in broken English. Ringo's feet were heavy as she made her way to the elevator. On the sixth floor, the twins stood, waiting at room 607. Both Irishmen looked concerned, but stood in silence as the girl unlocked the door.

The hotel suite was just as high end as the rest of the hotel. Although the building was old, every room had been remodeled. It seemed that her uncle spared no expense. Ringo recognized the expensive furniture and bedding instantly. The high rollers suites in Vegas didn't even compare. There were two bedrooms. One with two twin beds and a master bedroom with a king sized bed and attached bathroom. A fully stocked bar separated the two rooms and looked out into the living room which was equipped with a large television and two leather couches. The decorating was modern and artistic with monochromatic color schemes. Various prints of famous artwork hung around the suite. Connor and Murphy seemed impressed, but all Ringo wanted to do was make a dent in the bar. And then the bed. In that order.

"Russian vodka. Good Russian vodka." Ringo mumbled as she tore through the contents of the stainless steel bar.

"Pour me a shot, Ringo?" Connor asked with a small smile. Ringo glared at him and hugged the bottle to her chest. She began to retreat to her master bedroom with her bag and bottle.

"Get your own." She called. "Mine." Her door slammed and Connor sighed heavily and glanced at his brother. Murphy's eyes were sad and he slumped down on the couch and swore loudly.

"Fuckin' hell! Connor, she thinks we knew that Smecker wanted to use her as bait."

"Aye, I know. No use tryin' to talking to her tonight. Let her get drunk. Let us get drunk. Maybe we'll all have a nice little chat later."


End file.
